Don't forget that all Spaghetti Supper tickets must be purchased by this Friday, Nov. 3rd. You can click here for information and the order form.
There are still a few more slots to fill on the Spaghetti Supper volunteer list. We would be grateful for any help you can give us that night, and I am sure that if there are no NCHS Orchestra spots left the junior high would be appreciative of our help as well. You can click here to volunteer for the Spaghetti Supper.
Our next NCHS Orchestra Parents Association (NOPA) meeting will be this Thursday, Nov. 2 at 7 pm in the orchestra room. Door J around the back of the building will be open. We will be putting the finishing touches on our plans to feed the masses at Spaghetti Supper and will continue fundraising plans.
A few updates and reminders regarding our current fundraisers:
1. All Butter Braid orders must be picked up by you or your student on Dec. 14th in the orchestra room from 3:30-5:30 pm. This is different than the information that came home last week. All orders will be packaged up in one big bundle for your student and it is not possible to distribute to individual customers. Please make sure that you inform anyone you have sold product to that they will NOT be able to pick it up that day and that you will deliver it to them.
2. Don't forget that Prep Freeze Cook orders are due this Monday, Nov. 6th. Students should bring their order forms and money (all checks made payable to PREP FREEZE COOK) to school no later than that day in an envelope with their name clearly marked. Customers for this fundraiser absolutely CAN pick their items up and all items should be picked up at their facility on Nov. 16th between 12:00-7:00 pm. Please make sure you and your customers have made arrangements to pick up your meals.
Prep Freeze Cook and Butter Braid fundraiser packets went home with students today. Prep Freeze orders and money are due no later than Nov. 6, and Butter Braid orders and money are due no later than Dec. 1st. Please look the packets over carefully and make sure that students inform their customers of pick-up information!!!! Prep Freeze orders must be picked up at their facility on Oakland Avenue on November 16th between noon - 7:00 pm. Butter Braids must be picked up in the orchestra room on December 14th between 3:30-5:30 pm. This pick-up info is critical information to provide to your customers as we will have no way to store any of the product nor deliver it. All fundraising checks should be made payable to NCHS Orchestras.
Spaghetti Supper tickets are now on sale through Friday Nov. 3rd. Please print the attached order form and return to school with your student NO LATER than Friday Nov. 3rd. There will only be 150 tickets available at the door that night for purchase, so it is critical if you and your family plan on eating that night, you pre-order your tickets through us. Read the order form carefully and please make sure that you accurately indicate the number of meat sauce, marinara sauce, and gluten free meals that you need. Tickets will be sent home with students as soon as they bring in the form and payment. Checks should be made payable to Unit 5 Music Parents. Click here to print off the Spaghetti Supper Ticket Order Form.
The volunteer list for Spaghetti Supper is also now available and the orchestra is responsible for working the 4:45-6:00 time slot (will not conflict with orchestra performances). There is also a need for some stage crew parents and the 3:00-4:45 food prep slots. Please help us fill up these spots quickly and join us for food and music on Nov. 13th! You can click here to volunteer for the Spaghetti Supper.
The 23rd Annual Hauntcert is now in the books and I would just like to take this opportunity to give a couple of huge shout outs to all of our students and parents. The kids really turned it on the last week and made a great final push to help put some really top notch music on stage. Even though Concert Orchestra didn't perform on this concert, over HALF of the ensemble volunteered and got themselves involved in the program in some way! We are so proud of all of our orchestra students and their efforts over these last few weeks - great job!!!
When working on the program, the acknowledgement page of the program grew and grew the closer we got to the show. The orchestra program and I are so grateful to have so many wonderful parents who got involved in helping out with this huge production. There is just no way we would be able to put on a show of this magnitude without the help of a strong parent group backing us up! We are simply unable to express how deeply thankful we are to each and every individual who took time out of their busy schedule to help ensure we had a great production - thanks again for all of your help!!!!
Hauntcert tech week is upon us, and here is a quick run down for Chamber, Intermezzo, and Sinfonia commitments this week:
1. Monday Oct 16 - rehearsal with percussion from 3:30-6:00 pm. Plan to pick up students promptly at 6:00 at door J.
2. Tuesday Oct 17 - dress rehearsal 6-9 pm. Again, pick up should be at door J. **Please note "dress rehearsal" is the theater term for the final run through before a performance. Students should NOT wear their uniform to this rehearsal.**
3. Thursday Oct 19 - call time for students will be 6:00 pm. Students should report to the orchestra room dressed in their uniform and be ready to tune at 6 pm. If you volunteered to bring cookies, they can be dropped off at the table in the atrium if there is someone there to accept the donation. If no one is at the table yet, students can leave donations on the desk in the orchestra room. The show starts at 7 pm and is always standing room only. Plan on getting there early if you want a good seat!
Orchestra updates for the week of Oct. 2
1. Our next Hauntcert combined rehearsal is this Thursday morning BEFORE SCHOOL, will be from 7:00-8:20 am, and will involve Chamber, Intermezzo, and Sinfonia orchestras. Students will need to bring their folding music stands from home to school that morning and cellists will need to bring their instruments to school that day as well. Equipment crews please plan to arrive 15 min early to help with set up (we cannot set up the night before due to Battle of the Bands).
2. We are getting down to Hauntcert crunch time and really need to complete the volunteer list - our most pressing need is to fill the spots for dry ice helpers for our mad scientist experiments. You can click here to volunteer for Hauntcert 2017.
3. The refreshment sign up list is also now available as we try to feed an army of over 800 at the end of the Hauntcert. Please consider helping us out and bringing some cookies or punch for the event! You can click here to donate refreshments for Hauntcert 2017.
4. We are now collecting various items to be used in the Hauntcert production - items can be donated or returned to you if you are willing to let us borrow them. We are in need of power strips, extension cords, and batteries (mostly AA and AAA but a few C's as well for stand lights - batteries will not be returned). We are also in need of any decorations pertaining to the this year's theme. As it is the year for "scary music", any Halloween decorations will work, but if you specifically have things related to a mad scientist/laboratory, we are especially interested! Please clearly label anything that you would like returned and send items to school by the end of this week so that we can begin planning decorations. We are also looking for unusual percussion instruments such as siren whistles, duck calls, slide whistles, bike horns etc. (if it makes a weird, loud sound, we'd love to consider it!)
5. Our first NY trip fundraiser is to work the concession stand at the October 13th football game. Please allow those students and parents going on the trip "first dibs" on the sign up sheet - after this Friday, remaining spots can be filled by anyone. Click here to sign up to work concessions at the October 13th football game. Don't forget if you are going on the trip, the October payment is now due!
6. Melissa Miles is looking for an interested parent to help coordinate some fundraising event for the New York trip. Please let Mrs. Siebenthal know if you would like to join her in our efforts to raise money for the trip!
7. Our next NCHS Orchestra Parents meeting will be Tuesday Oct 10 at 7 pm in the orchestra room (door J around the back will be open). This is our final meeting before Hauntcert and we would love to have a great turn out to continue planning the event. We are also still looking for three people interested in shadowing some of our NOPA executive board members so that they can take over those offices next year. The positions don't involve a huge amount of commitment, so if you are interested in the offices of president, treasurer, and refreshment chair, please let Mrs. Siebenthal know.
8. Parent teacher conferences are also looming on the horizon the week after the Hauntcert. As per the district's new initiative and restructuring of the process, parents must now contact each individual teacher if they wish to arrange a face-to-face conference. I will be available for conferences Oct 23-26 before school. Please keep in mind that even filling every available spot only allows me access to a little less than a 1/3 of the orchestra students. I humbly ask that you save the face-to-face conference spots for students who are struggling with the course and/or their grade and really need that time with me. If your student is not struggling with the material or grades and you would like to touch base with me, I would love to receive an email from you to check in on how things are going with your student! Hopefully this new structure for parent-teacher conferences will help us teachers reach those students who need it the most. Please contact me via email as soon as possible if we need to meet face-to-face, and sometime during the week of scheduled conferences if you would like to touch base and have a "mini-conference" via email. Contacting me during that week for an email conference will ensure that all of the grading is complete and ready to go so that I can provide you with appropriate updates.
