Band Q and A

Thank you for your continued patience and support as we prepare for the opening of the 2020-2021 school year.  I know several of you have asked me questions regarding how band will start up this year, but I wanted to make sure I touched base with my superiors and received as concrete of answers as I could before answering them.  If I did not address a question you have, please feel free to email me back (but be prepared for me to say “I don’t know, but I’ll get back to you.”).

If you leave this email knowing nothing else, please know I am 100% committed to offering students and families the highest-quality music education and band experience for each individual student while maintaining an atmosphere and learning environment that is safe, positive, and engaging.

BAND HANDBOOK:  Please review the band handbook for general information on band, especially if this is your first year in band at HHS.  While the link above takes you to last year’s handbook, the basic information stays the same from year to year.  I will post an updated handbook when it’s finished.  Some pages to especially reference before school starts:

• Charms/Schoology/Earning a Band Letter – Page 11
• What You Will Need For Band – Page 12 Important for everyone but ESPECIALLY important for Percussion Ensemble’s required sticks/mallets
• Concert Attire/School Instruments – Page 14

We have made the difficult decision to cancel Band Camp this year.  There was simply no way to pull off any sort of in-person camp, even in small groups.  In addition, with football season being moved to the spring there is no pressing reason to get a jump-start on the year.  We may reschedule a shortened band camp prior to the start of basketball season to prepare for basketball and football pep band, but nothing has been decided for sure yet.

Student Band Council officers are committed to trying to contact and get some sort of interactions started with their bands and sections, especially new students.  Watch for some communication from the Band Council on social media or through their email address, hockinsonbandcouncil@gmail.com.  Thank you to these amazing student officers for their commitment to the morale and well-being of all HHS band students!

We are holding off on fitting students for marching band uniforms until we are closer to football season.  This way we can maintain proper social distancing for now and not worry about students growing between now and spring.  The music boosters may still do a marching shoe order in the fall as many students utilize these shoes for concert attire, but we haven’t made that determination yet.

Students new to Wind Ensemble, Percussion Ensemble, and Jazz Band (or those who have outgrown their tux/dress) will need to order concert attire for performances (even virtual performances), pictures, etc.  Watch for an email from the boosters on how this will be working this year.  Symphonic Band students:  Remember your concert attire is ALL Black pants and dress shirt.  See the band handbook for more information.

We will also be sending out information soon about how students can purchase their HHS Band t-shirt as well as how anyone can purchase some HHS Band swag.  The Band Council will be starting a new tradition this year of designing a sweatshirt for the 2020-2021 HHS Band.  I’m excited to see what they come up with, so stay tuned!

For students who use a school instrument, we will distribute your instrument during your assigned orientation time.  HHS will be sending out a schedule for picking up Chromebooks, paying fees, etc. in the near future.  Just make sure you stop by the band room during your orientation time to pick up your instrument.  You will need a parent/guardian with you to fill out the rental information and pay the $100 rental fee.

At this time I will ONLY be distributing concert band instruments.  If you use a school instrument for pep band (sousaphone, marching baritone, mellophone, drumline, etc.) I will not be checking these instruments out until we get closer to pep band season.  I also want to make sure I have enough instruments to cover primary instruments before I check out pep ones.

If you kept your school instrument over the summer, I will need you to complete this form and return it with your $100 rental fee before the school year starts.

Please be aware that there will be NO SHARING OF INSTRUMENTS this year.  All instruments I will be checking out have gone through an extra cleaning and sanitation process by Music World in accordance with standard and guidelines set by the CDC and other music industry-specific organizations such as NAMM, NAFME, etc.

Yes, with a caveat.

First of all, I don’t want to pretend I’m an expert in exactly what the Virtual Academy will look like.  There’s a great graphic on the HHS Facebook page you can reference (https://www.facebook.com/HockinsonHS), along with contact information for Mr. Schoonover or Mr. Johnson. Band will not actually be part of the Virtual Academy.

For students who decide to enroll in the HSD Virtual Academy for the year, they can still enroll in band and receive a grade.  Students will be expected to participate in all aspects of the class.  At the beginning of the year, that will mean attending all scheduled Zoom meetings and completing all synchronous and asynchronous coursework.  Once the school district transitions over from remote to hybrid in-person learning Virtual Academy students will be expected to attend on the same in-person/hybrid schedule as all other students.  This is similar to how several students each year are homeschooled but attend band each day at HHS.  Of course, we will follow all mandated and recommended social distancing guidelines.

Obviously with school starting online, all events from the calendar shared with you in June that fall on a time when we are in a remote learning environment will be canceled.  Once school starts transitioning back to in-person/hybrid we will make determinations about whether it is safe or feasible to hold any other activities.  I have not received an updated football schedule as of yet, but I will share it when I receive it.

Band will be following the remote daily schedule shared by the high school.  Wind Ensemble is 1st period, Percussion Ensemble is 2nd period, and Symphonic Band is 4th period.  Right now the school is undecided on exactly when 0 period will meet, and we may have some flexibility on exactly which days and times that will be.  I will follow up with Jazz Band students separately.

In our fully-online setting, as with all classes at HHS, band will not look the same as last year’s remote learning.  We will have scheduled online rehearsals during our allotted time where we will be rehearsing band music together.  I have taken time this summer to learn more about having more effective online band experiences and rehearsals.  My ultimate goal is to create as “normal” of a band experience as possible.  This means preparing concert music (traditional and “flexible” music), rehearsing as ensembles/sections/individuals, and honing/refining skills and concepts to improve individual musicianship.  There are a myriad of possibilities for performances and sharing our work with the public ranging from live-streamed in-person ensemble performances to virtual performances similar to what we did for graduation.  We will figure out those details once the year gets going.  As I’m sure you know, long-term planning is difficult in this day and age!

I’m also exploring options for some limited in-person assistance and instruction from me while we are in a fully-remote environment.  This is all VERY preliminary, but in a nutshell I would make myself available to work with individuals or small groups of no more than about 4 or 5 at school during normal school hours.  Students would make appointments to work with me, utilizing the latest university peer-reviewed studies around instrumental music in a socially-distanced world.  NO IN-PERSON INSTRUCTION WILL BE REQUIRED WHILE IN A REMOTE LEANING SCENARIO, but it would be an option for those who feel comfortable.  While CLASSES will start out online this year, the high school CAMPUS will be open to small groups of students who need to utilize a space with reliable internet, check out items from the library, receive special education services, etc.  Band would simply follow these same guidelines.

When the district starts to transition back to in-person/hybrid learning there will be special social distancing requirements for band students based on the latest peer-reviewed research in the world of instrumental music.  This will include extra social distancing beyond 6 feet (varies depending on the instrument), special bell covers or other cloth coverings for instruments, methods for releasing water/moisture from instruments (trying really hard to to use the term “spit valve”), and more.  By the way, if you have sewing skills and would be interested in helping us create some special band-specific PPE please let me know.

Percussionists:  I am experimenting with a plan to have you pick up (or even have me home-deliver) some percussion equipment that doesn’t usually go home with you in order to maximize your ability to prepare high-quality music for band.  We will probably talk about this during the first week of school to figure out exactly what each person needs/wants.  YOU WILL STILL NEED TO PURCHASE THE REQUIRED STICKS/MALLETS LISTED IN THE HANDBOOK.

I’m sure you would still like more details on what band will look like and I promise to get specifics out to you when they are known, but please know you can always email me with more questions.

I said it above, but it bears repeating:   If you leave this email knowing nothing else, please know I am 100% committed to offering students and families the highest-quality music education and band experience for each individual student while maintaining an atmosphere and learning environment that is safe, positive, and engaging.

Please keep doing everything you can to keep a positive attitude, lift up your friends and fellow bandmates, and above all else do everything you can to stay healthy and slow the spread!  I hope to see you soon!

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