Please note: students listed above are eligible for the Knott's trip based on their participation in various festival ensembles and/or Beauty and the Beast. Students listed above are not necessarily eligible academically, and academic eligibility will be checked closer to the trip. Remember, students with a GPA lower than 2.0 and/or with any Citizenship marks of "U" or more than one "N" will not be permitted on the trip. Fees are non-refundable and any fees paid for a student who is ineligible will be considered a donation.
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Wednesday, April 17th:Thursday, April 18th:Here is the information for next Tuesday's SCSBO Festival at Kennedy HS: If you have any questions please email Mr. Summers.
Events!
Here is what's on the calendar for this week:
Grades Have you checked your student's Band/Orchestra grade lately? I have three categories in my gradebook: Musicianship, Professionalism, and Performance. Assignments in the Musicianship category are the most important-- these are the assignments that show students' mastery of our curriculum. You should see 10/10 on assignments labeled "Practice Quiz" and at least 8/10 on assignments with "Essential Elements Quiz" in the title. Anything less indicates lack of mastery and the student needs to redo that assignment until mastery is achieved. Practice Habits Is your student practicing enough? Brief (10-15 minutes), frequent (daily), focused (no distractions!) practice sessions are far more effective than infrequent practice binges. Students who do not practice at home are guaranteed to fail in rehearsal. When students do not practice, they come to rehearsal unprepared. When students come to rehearsal unprepared, they let everyone else down and hold everyone else back. Thank you for doing your part to encourage and nurture positive practice habits in your young musician. Festival Season! Our first festival is on March 5th at Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in La Palma. Orchestra and Festival Band will be performing. We have been monitoring student progress and final rosters of students approved to attend and perform will be published today. Parents and family are permitted to attend the festival and watch the performances. Advanced Orchestra Gig We are pleased to announce that our Advanced Orchestra has been selected to perform at the annual Alliance of Schools for Cooperative Insurance (ASCIP) conference on March 8th at the JW Marriott Anaheim Resort. Many high-ranking District personnel will be in attendance and this is a great opportunity for us to showcase our program. Snap!Raise We will be launching our Snap!Raise fundraiser soon. Last time we did this fundraiser we brought in nearly $30,000! Students will need to create accounts and add at least 20 email addresses for family members and friends. This is a direct donation drive, so no selling or buying anything, yay! This fundraiser is our biggest source of funding for our program (we do not receive a budget from the district or school for instruments or music) and so it is critical that everyone participates to the fullest extent possible. This fundraiser is being run by the Performing Arts Boosters and all students in Band, Orchestra, Guitar, Choir, and Drama will participate. Jazz Band We are hoping to offer Jazz Band as an elective next year. If your student is interested, please make sure they request this class. We are looking for the following:
Students who are interested in guitar, bass, piano, or drums please click here or see me in room 91 to receive a copy of the audition music. Audition video(s) must be uploaded at this location by April 7th. Return to Normal:
Many thanks for your continued support Greetings! Here is our update for this week.
Snap!Raise We will be launching our Snap!Raise fundraiser at the end of February. Last time we did this fundraiser we brought in nearly $30,000! Students will need to create accounts and add at least 20 email addresses for family members and friends. This is a direct donation drive, so no selling or buying anything, yay! This fundraiser is our biggest source of funding for our program (we do not receive a budget from the district or school for instruments or music) and so it is critical that everyone participates to the fullest extent possible. This fundraiser is being run by the Performing Arts Boosters and all students in Band, Orchestra, Guitar, Choir, and Drama will participate. Festival Season! Our first festival is on March 5th at Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in La Palma. Orchestra and Festival Band will be performing. Final rosters of students approved to attend and perform will be published around the end of February. Preliminary itinerary (subject to change) is here. Parents and family are permitted to attend the festival and watch the performances. I have also attached the adjudication rubric so you can see how our ensembles will be evaluated by the judges. Any questions let me know. Events! Here is what's on the calendar for this week:
Advanced Orchestra Gig I am pleased to announce that our Advanced Orchestra has been selected to perform at the annual Alliance of Schools for Cooperative Insurance (ASCIP) conference on March 8th at the JW Marriott Anaheim Resort. Many high-ranking District personnel will be in attendance and this is a great opportunity for us to showcase our program. Itinerary. Other Attachments
Jazz Band We are hoping to offer Jazz Band as an elective next year. If your student is interested, please make sure they request this class. We are looking for the following:
Students who are interested in guitar, bass, piano, or drums please click here or see me in room 91 to receive a copy of the audition music. Audition video(s) must be uploaded at this location by April 7th. In Other News... Beginning on Tuesday, February 13th, teachers across the Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District began adhering to our contractual obligations and not going above and beyond as we normally do. Hopefully this will only be temporary. Here is what this looks like for Band and Orchestra at Benton:
Many thanks for your continued support Greetings! Rain, Rain, Go Away... Well, most of the rain seems to have abated. We've discovered two new leaks in our house, but otherwise we have weathered the storm ok. I hope you all have managed to stay dry, warm, and safe. Now that the clouds are parting, the snow-capped mountains are quite a sight to behold! Since we are just so busy this season, I am going to try and send weekly updates to make sure everyone is in the loop as to what's going on. As most of you have figured out by now, I err on the side of overcommunicating rather than under-communicating. Events! Here is what's on the calendar for this week:
In Other News... Beginning on Tuesday, February 13th, teachers across the Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District will be adhering to our contractual obligations and not going above and beyond as we normally do. Hopefully this will only be temporary. Here is what that will look like for Band and Orchestra at Benton:
Here is a short clip of Wind Lab playing a chorale today, Friday, February 9th, 2024: As always, thank you for your continued support!
Please download the itinerary and roster below for District Honor Band and Orchestra auditions on Thursday, January 25th. Best of luck to all students who are auditioning!
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Geoffrey D. Summers
Instrumental Music Director "Practice is when you learn your part. Rehearsal is when you learn everybody else's." Archives
April 2024
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