From The Desk of Mr. Lee
Busy week ahead!!! We have lots to get done this week. Come in ready to work hard.
GOOD LUCK to all our students who will be participating in the WGI World Championships this week in Dayton, OH. We are rooting for you all!!!
Lots of information included in this newsletter. Please read this completely to stay on top of all the things going on within the band program.
Big things to pay attention to this week:
- Small Ensemble Rehearsals Continue for Brass, Woodwind, and Percussion Sections
- Colorguard Auditions Begin on Tuesday
- Leadership Training for Marching Band Continues on Wednesday
- Marching Band General Info / Show Reveal Meeting Happening on 15 APR 25
Special Notes:
- There is a work opportunity available for Memorial Day Weekend at the Charlotte Motor Speedway that can be used to help families pay for band fees. Please see information below on how to sign up.
- Pictures are needed from this past year for the End of Year Band Banquet. Please share what you have with Mrs. Cheryl Opel (cherylopel@hotmail.com).
Important Things to Note For This Week:
- MOUNT PLEASANT BAND BANQUET
- MOUNT PLEASANT PANDA EXPRESS FUNDRAISER (NEXT ONE IS 18 APR 25)
- WORK OPPORTUNITY: MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND AT THE CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
- MOUNT PLEASANT MARCHING BAND (INFORMATION MEETING FOR THE 2025 SEASON, LEADERSHIP TRAINING, COLORGUARD AUDITIONS, WESTERN CAROLINA UNIVERSITY SUMMER SYMPOSIUM)
- NOTES FROM THE CLASSROOM (NOTES FOR THE 4TH QUARTER, SMARTMUSIC REGISTRATION)
- NEW!!!!! PARENTS CORNER (NEW EPISODE FROM "THE BAND DADS" PODCAST)
- SCHEDULE FOR 7 - 21 APR 2025
Mount Pleasant Band Banquet
Our End of the Year Band Banquet will be held on Friday, 9 MAY 25 at the Cabarrus Arena. All members of any of our programs (band, colorguard/winterguard, etc.) and their families are invited to this great event. To reserve your tickets, please go HERE.
QR Code To Reserve/Purchase Tickets:
Costs for this event is:
- $15 per person
- Children Under the Age of 5: FREE
If you make a purchase via credit cards/debit cards online: You will be able to make your payment through the Jotform that you must complete to reserve your tickets. There is a 4% service fee (automatically figured into your total).
To Pay Via Cash or Check: Please fill out the Jotform (QR Code and Link Above) to reserve your tickets. There is NO added fee to pay via these methods. Students will need to bring cash or checks to complete the purchase of these tickets on Tuesdays, Thursdays, or Fridays. Checks need to be made payable to Mount Pleasant Band Boosters, Inc. PLEASE COMPLETE THE JOTFORM (QR CODE AND LINK ABOVE).
LAST DAY TO PURCHASE THESE TICKETS IS TUESDAY, 29 APRIL 25. THIS IS IMPORTANT SO THAT WE CAN GET OUR GUEST NUMBERS TO THE CATERERS!!!!
MOUNT PLEASANT BAND'S "VIRTUAL COMMUNITY FUNDRAISER" THROUGH PANDA EXPRESS
Do you you enjoy Panda Express! Over the next few months, we will be hosting a "virtual" fundraiser through Panda Express. The awesome thing about this fundraiser is that anyone in the nation can support us. Very simple and will go a long way to help us! Instructions are as follows:
- On Thursday, 18 April 2025, place an order online for pick-up or delivery.
- In the Fundraiser Code Box, apply code 9002041 during online checkouts through www.pandaexpress.com or via their app.
- To help us share this event to all of your family and friends vai text, social media etc., go HERE
WORK OPPORTUNITY TO BUILD FUNDS FOR BAND ACCOUNTS (MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND AT CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY)
The Charlotte Motor Speedway has asked us to supply able bodies to serve as ticket scanners for the upcoming Memorial Day weekends races.
Come enjoy a day at the races and earn money for your student's band account. Invite your friends and family; the more the merrier! There are two available opportunities; Saturday May 24th for the Xfinity Race and Sunday May 25th for the Coke 600. You will be greeting guests and scanning tickets. Must be 16 years old to work. Please review the available slots below and click on the button to sign up. There are 15 slots available for both days. Let's try to fill these please.
To sign up, please go HERE.
LEADERSHIP TRAINING FOR THE 2025 SEASON
We will continue leadership training for the 2025 season on Wednesdays through 23 APR. This training is an optional training that is offered to any person who might be interested in auditioning for a leadership position or is interested in learning about leadership. This is open to any student that would like to participate. We will go 2:30 - 5:00 on these days. Hope to see you there!
Specifics concernign Leadership Team Auditions will come very soon!!!
INFORMATION MEETING FOR ALL POTENTIAL HIGH SCHOOL AND VETERAN MARCHING BAND MEMBERS/FAMILIES CONCERNING THE 2025 SEASON
We have lots of exciting things planned for our marching band this coming year and we would love to have you join us to be a part of what I believe will be one of the most special years in our history. To kick off our season, we will be hosting an important meeting for all veteran and potential new high school members and their parents/guardians on Tuesday, 15 APR at 6:30 PM. This meeting will be held in the band room. During this meeting, we will go through pertinent information regarding the upcoming marching season. We will also do our show reveal during this time (which I am super excited about……). We hope to see you all there.
PLEASE NOTE: For anyone that cannot attend this meeting, we will be hosting another meeting on Thursday, MAY 8 for Rookie Marchers/Families and anyone that could not attend the APR meeting. Please plan to
COLORGUARD AUDITIONS
Auditions for the MP Colorguard for the 2025 season will be 8 - 11 APR 2025. Times are 4:30 - 7:30 PM.
WESTERN CAROLINA UNIVERSITY SUMMER SYMPOSIUM
Western Carolina University hosts their annual Summer Symposium 6-10 JUL 25. This is an AWESOME summer camp for students to work with nationally recognized educators. We have had several students attend this event in the past and they have a wonderful time. I strongly encourage students to attend if they are able.
To register, go HERE.
UPDATES FROM THE CLASSROOM
WELCOME TO THE 4th QUARTER!!! We are now racing to the finish line. As we look to wrap up our school year, we have lots of events happening for us. Please be attentive to the schedule!
SPRING CONCERT PREPARATIONS: Our Spring Concert will be held on Sunday, 4 MAY 25. Report time for all students for this event will be 1:30 PM. Concert will begin at 2:30 PM. In order to prepare for this concert, we will be having REQUIRED after school rehearsals (communicated in the band handbook that was passed out on the 1st day of the semester). The dates and times of those rehearsals are:
- Monday, 28 APR (2:30 - 4:30 PM)
- Tuesday, 29 APR (2:30 - 4:30 PM)
- Wednesday, 30 APR (2:30 - 4:30 PM)
- Thursday, 1 MAY (2:30 - 4:30 PM)
GRADUATION PREPARATIONS: Also, as communicated in the band handbook, it is REQUIRED that all students (except graduating Seniors) participate in performing at Graduation. Mount Pleasant High School's Graduation is on Thursday, 22 MAY. More details will go out about specific times as we get closer, but please notate this on your calendars. In preparation for this event, we will be having a few after school rehearsals for this, as well. They are:
- Monday, 12 MAY (2:30 - 4:30 PM)
- Tuesday, 13 MAY (2:30 - 4:30 PM)
- Wednesday, 14 MAY (2:30 - 4:30 PM)
SMALL ENSEMBLE PARCTICES: If students are interested, we are hosting "optional" small ensemble rehearsal days to prepare a piece for the Spring Concert. Days and times of those rehearsals are as follows:
- Brass: Mondays through 21 APR (3:15 - 5:00 PM)
- Woodwinds: Tuesdays through 22 APR (3:15 - 5:00 PM)
- Percussion: Thursdays through 24 APR (2:30 - 4:30 PM)
ASSIGNMENTS POSTED IN CANVAS/SMARTMUSIC: All students now have a variety of assignments that they need to begin knocking out through SmartMusic. The instructions for these assignments can be found in the "Assignments" section of Canvas. From here on out, students will have 4-5 assignments a week that they need to complete. Ultimately, it is requested that each student knock these out within the established due date (usually 2 weeks after assignment has been assigned) to stay on top of these assignments, but students have until 30 APR to fully complete all assignments. If they wait until the last minute to complete these, that is on them. Keep in mind that these assignments are done through an online platform. If the system goes through a system update on 30 APR and they haven't finished something, the student will get a "0" on that assignment. Ultimately, these assignments do not take long to complete if students have been properly practicing, so these should not take a long time to complete. See below if you still need help in signing up for a SmartMusic account.
BAND HANDBOOK: All students and families are expected to read the Band Handbook (found HERE). Lots of information pertaining to expectations, rules, schedule, etc. can be found there.
SMARTMUSIC: We will be working to establish SmartMusic accounts for all students by the end of next week. SmartMusic is an online tool we utilize to aid in individual practice and assessment. To get started creating SmartMusic accounts, do the following:
- Go to https://admin.makemusic.com/join?classCode=UC7CJ-V4WYE
- The class code should automatically populate, but if it does not, it is UC7CCJ-V4WYE
- Hit “Find Your Class.” The class Mount Pleasant HS Band 2024-2025 should populate. Hit “Join this Class.”
- Please put in an e-mail address that you utilize often to establish your account.
- Check your e-mail for a confirmation e-mail. Please confirm your account.
To Login to SmartMusic: Go to HERE
PARENTS' CORNER
This area of the newsletter will be dedicated to those who help to make things happen within our organization! Without the support of wonderful parents, guardians, family members, friends, it is impossible to have a successful program. Your support is always appreciated. Thank you for all you do!
Sometimes, parents/guardians struggle with ways to help our program. I want to help give resources that you can follow that may help in this area.
First resource I want to share is this new podcast created for you, the band parent!!! The Band Dads Podcast will be a series that will help you, the confused band parent. This podcast is the brainchild of Scott Lang, who was a former band director, and now a band parent. He and co-host, Chris Flynn, will dive into lots of topics. The first two episodes have dropped today and I want to share those with you.
New Episodes:
EPISODE 5: Do the Dollars Make Sense?
Past Episodes:
- EPISODE 1: The Band Dad's Podcast Preview
- EPISODE 2: Why Music? Why Band? And Why Should You Care?
- Band Dads Mailbag / Tuesday Teaser #1
- EPISODE 3: Do You Hear What I Hear?
- Band Dad's Mailbag / Tuesday Teaser #2
- EPISODE 4: The Money Episode (Part 1: What is it Worth?)
- Band Dad's Mailbag / Tuesday Teaser #3
SCHEDULE FOR 7 - 21 APRIL 2025
April 7: Brass Small Ensemble Rehearsal (3:15 - 5:00 PM)
April 8: Colorguard Auditions (4:30 - 7:00 PM)
April 8: Woodwind Small Ensemble Rehearsal (3:15 - 5:00 PM)
April 8: Band Booster Board Meeting; 6:30 PM
April 9: Colorguard Auditions (4:30 - 7:00 PM)
April 9: Leadership Training (Marching Band); 2:30-5:00 PM
April 10: Colorguard Auditions (4:30 - 7:00 PM)
April 11: Colorguard Auditions (4:30 - 7:00 PM)
April 14: Brass Small Ensemble Rehearsal (3:15 - 5:00 PM)
April 15: Woodwind Small Ensemble Rehearsal (3:15 - 5:00 PM)
April 15: Marching Band General Information Meeting / Show Reveal For Potential High School Members (6:30 PM)
April 16: Leadership Training (Marching Band); 2:30-5:00 PM
April 17: Percussion Ensemble Rehearsal; 2:30-4:30 PM
April 20: Easter Sunday
April 21: Teacher Workday