Millard North Band Boosters Newsletter 1

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April 2015

­­It seems the older I get, the faster time flies. Where do the days go? We have already met and performed with next year’s freshmen and are preparing to say goodbyes to our seniors! Our remarkable students never cease to amaze at what they do for the Millard North Band program! Our sense of family continues to grow and I love the potential I see in our students each day! The MNHS Elkhorn Band Olympic “Team” once again brought home the championship trophy for earning the most medals and superior ratings in their division. Our 2

nd year for

Winter Percussion and Winter Guard continued to see suc-cess and growth in the programs. Winter Guard once again earned 3

rd place at the HWAA Regional Championships while

Winter Percussion finished 2nd

at every competition they at-tended! The Jazz Bands had another outstanding showing as both groups received superior ratings at the UNO Jazz Festival and are currently preparing for the Big Band Dance. Percussion has already begun “chops” sessions in prepara-tion for this next fall, while Color Guard auditions are just wrapping up. The MNHS Band Program received the NSBA “Academic Achievement Award” for the 2

nd straight year! We

are one of only two AA band programs in the state to win the award for a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher! The Concert Bands have been pushing themselves to higher levels for contest and our final concert. Our new marching show ar-ranger is working hard to put together another outstanding field show for our students. Drum majors and leadership team have already been selected for the coming year with a HUGE number of candidates applying! It is very exciting to see so many students with an interest in serving our family! We are very excited to welcome back nationally renowned student leadership guru Scott Lang this summer! I am so excited for this opportunity for ALL our 9-12 band students to learn more about themselves and foster the potential each of them possesses. Leadership is just one essential component of our complex organization that can lead to success. Another of those cru-cial element is Color Guard. 40 percent of our marching scores at competitions are visual components - much of which comes from the talents of our Color Guard. We need your continued help in recruiting great talent to become part

Ryan Placek Millard North Director of Bands

of our band! Another essential component is balanced instrumenta-tion within the band. Without good balanced instrumen-tation, our program CANNOT function successfully. Over the past two years, we have been receiving an enormous number of flutes, clarinets, saxophones, and percussion in the freshman classes. We are getting very few low brass players. The past two years we have only gained 5-6 low brass players in each freshman class of over 70 students. This is a very frightening trend and one we need to correct immediately. We need current woodwind players to switch to a low brass instrument right away to help rectify our problem and help our pro-gram continue its success. I’m not sure many of you would enjoy listening to a band comprised of only flutes, clarinets, saxophones, and percussion!

As our school year draws to a close, please consider

how important music is in the lives of our students. I

look for every chance to give our students more OP-

PORTUNITIES! I understand that all our students are

busy, but remember busy students are SUCCESSFUL

students because they are involved! They learn life

skills in perseverance, teamwork, flexibility, dedication,

communication, presentation, performance, cooperation,

goal setting, commitment, time management, focus,

stress management, self-discipline, and self-confidence

just to name a few. Thank you everyone for your contin-

ued support of our students and the music programs

here at MNHS. I am truly blessed to be a part of the

Millard North Band family! -Mr. P

Millard North Band Boosters Newsletter 2

are held once a month

in the room next to the Band Room.

The next meeting will be

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

At 6:30 P.M. in the Mustang Center

We need a quorum to vote that night

In order to maintain our nonprofit status

Please be there for the vote before the concert!

All Band Parents are ALWAYS welcome to at-

tend!

If anyone has any business they would like to

discuss at this meeting,

please call Ann Leever at 491-0009

to get your item(s) added to the agenda.

Meetings of the Band Boosters

DirectorsDirectors

President Ann Leever 491-0009

President-Elect Ann Leever 491-0009

Treasurer Joel Knudson 697-0626

Secretary Debi Tompkins 333-1280

After State Party Joe and Beth Coughlin 934-6313

Apparel Bob Lyons 689-7325

Big Band Dance Stephanie and Joe

Sacco 431-1929

Booster Buttons Kathy Luddy 980-5093

Bus Chaperones Kristin Vavricek 881-6080

Bus Cookies Jackie Bulger 891-0724

Contributions Matt and Barb Sheppard 963-0556

Finance Committee

Coffee Fundraising Sara Ellis 554-0944

Music Scholarships Matt and Barb Sheppard 963-0556

New Families Knut Haasch 697-0890

Newsletter Marcia Shavlik 334-4820

Pit/Truck Crew Pat Potter 320-8218

Post-Prom Paula Hardin 659-9834

Premier Night/ Jeanette Meacham 498-9580

Uniforms and Re-

cords Coordinator Kathy Luddy 980-5093

Spirit Committee LeNae Nelson

Leslie Russell

496-0713

707-6117

Website Douglas Annis 894-9646

Ryan Placek,

Band Director

rlplacek@mpsomaha.org

715-1513

Craig Mathis,

Assistant Band Director

cdmathis@mpsomaha.org

715-1513

REMINDER TO SENIORS: A senior video is being pre-pared to show after the final band concert on May 5, 2015. Seniors are being asked to send a baby picture and any other candid band pictures they would like included in the video to mnbandseniors@gmail.com before Sunday, May 3, 2015, that would be great! Additionally, don’t forget to send a senior picture to mks345@yahoo.com at the same time!

Millard North Band Boosters Newsletter 3

It’s spring! Another school year is quickly coming to a hectic end. Our band mem-bers have been so busy. There were many pep band performances. The Wind Symphony helped welcome the incoming freshman at their concert in January. The Concert and Symphonic bands, along with the jazz band and stage band, had their concert in Feb-ruary. Our freshmen and sophomores brought home top honors from the Elkhorn Band Olympics. Jazz band and stage band competed with great results at UNO and Bellevue East. The Winter Guard finished third in their division at the HWAA Championships and the Winter Drumline consis-tently placed in the top3 in local HWAA competitions.

I would personally like to thank all the band boosters who have volunteered this semester. We’ve had the “pit crew” getting all the drumline equipment to several competitions, which is no small feat (especially in 10 degree weather!!). We had the After Prom group do a spectacular job with deco-rating and providing treats for After Prom festivities. A big thanks also to all that provide refresh-ments for all our concerts.

Also, don’t forget to buy your “Battle of the Band Baskets” raffle tickets. We’ll be raffling off 3 bas-kets at the Big Band Dance. The band whose basket raises the most money gets a donut party. A new raffle this year is the “Lunch with the Directors” raffle. The winner and 3 guests get to have lunch with Mr. P and Mr. Mathis – who wouldn’t like that?! Another new and exciting addition to the Big Band Dance is the Parent Patron Party and Silent Auction. SO many great prizes to win!

More volunteer opportunities will be coming up this summer as we work concessions for Storm Chaser games. Please say “yes” to just one evening to help raise money for our band and their needs.

On a more somber note, I’m sure you are aware that the School Board voted to eliminate three full time elementary music teaching positions as part of their “Selective Reduction and Abandonment” procedures. We were warned at the Board meeting that this is not the end of cuts to programs. My-self and others will continue to monitor the situation and let you know if actions need to be taken. One positive aspect was that we worked in tandem with many Millard West parents and hope to keep that alliance as we go forward, and try to involve Millard South parents as well.

Mrs. Ann Leever Millard North Band

Booster President

2012 Millard North Drum Major/Alumni and 2015 Drum Major for the Cornhusker Marching Band, Patrick Luddy, ad-dresses the Millard Public School Board; some of the new drum majors and members of the Millard North Band showing a little band spirit outside the Don Stroh Building before the board meeting. And a big congratulations to Pat-rick on being named drum major of the Cornhusker Marching Band!

Millard North Band Boosters Newsletter 4

On Saturday, February 23rd, freshman and sophomore musicians from Millard North attended the Elkhorn Band Olympics at Elkhorn South High School. MNHS had 36 entries from our band pro-gram! These students received the overall EBO Championship trophy for their division!

Congratulations to all the students on their wonderful preparation and performances!

Name Event Rating/Placement I = superior

II = excellent III = good

Hunter Holoubek/Charlie

Maas

Mixed Duet I

Ian Ghanavati/Noah Sacco Snare Duet I

Sarah Clark/Denae Jones/

Tori Qiu

Woodwind Trio I

Sarah Osborn/Sarah

Jacobsen/Bri Hammel

Woodwind Trio I

Micah Brodsky Bass Clarinet Solo I, 3rd place

Sofia Cormack 10th Flute Solo I, 3rd place

Erica Flores 10th Flute Solo I, 1st place gold medal

Ian Ghanavati 10th Snare Solo II, 3rd place

Casey Stokes 10th Trumpet Solo I, 2nd place

Amy Nelson 10th Clarinet Solo I, 3rd place

Nan Sricharoen 9th Flute Solo I

Sarah Osborn 10th Flute Solo I

Paul Circo 10th Trumpet Solo II

LeAnna Lui 10th Alto Sax Solo II

Justin Xiong 10th Tenor Sax Solo I, 2nd place

Sarah Clark 9th Clarinet Solo I, 4th place

Jackson Hardin 10th Trombone Solo I, 2nd place

Fianna Long-Bulduc/Rena

Li

Flute Duet I

Mackenzie Reed/Tori Qiu Woodwind Duet II

Tori Qiu 9th Clarinet Solo I, 3rd place

Tyler Collins/Matthew

Townsend

Horn Duet I

Matthew Vavricek 9th Trumpet Solo II

Paul Circo/Alex Reilly Trumpet Duet II

Trevor Lyons Misc. Percussion I, 2nd place

Riley Goldhorn Misc. Percussion Solo II, 4th place

Elizabeth Luddy 9th Alto Sax Solo II

Daniel Fu 9th Alto Sax Solo I, 1st place gold medal

Millard North Band Boosters Newsletter 5

MUSIC AWARDS BANQUET

The Music Department Awards Banquet is scheduled for Thursday, April 30 and will be held in the Mustang Center at Millard North High School. Tickets have already been sold for this popular event. If you have purchased your ticket already, please be sure to mark your calendar!

Denae Jones 9th Flute Solo I

Nithya Mudgapali 9th Flute Solo I

Dylan Dittman 9th Baritone Solo II

Autumn Coe Mallet Solo III

Jacob Morrow 10th Baritone Solo I, 4th place

Kasey Dresser 9th Tuba Solo II, 5th place

Alaina Blaker 9th Tuba Solo II, 2nd place

Riley Cope Bari Sax Solo II

Nan Sricharoen/Isabelle Chavez

Woodwind Duet I

Isabelle Chavez/Kristina Perez

Woodwind Duet I, Outstanding Ensemble

Come out and enjoy the sounds of the Millard North Jazz Bands at the 15thAnnual Big Band Dance! Swing music through current day jazz and rock will be performed live in the Millard North gym for the Millard North community. Desserts and beverages will be served throughout the evening. We are delighted to welcome back the Omaha Jitterbug Club for a group swing dance lesson. The event also includes a Basket Raffle of three themed baskets containing items donated by band families. Tickets will be sold at the Dance as well as at the spring band concert on May 5th. New this year is our Parent Patron Party and Silent Auction. So mark your calendars and come out for a night of dancing, desserts and fun as Millard North swings! Tickets are $10/adults and $5/students. There is still time to sign up to volunteer and lots of ways to help! Just go to www.mnband.net and click on

Volunteer to sign up. Thanks and see you May 8th!

Millard North Band Boosters Newsletter 6

Uniform Turn-In dates are May 12, 13, 14 before school. Helpers will be directing students through the process. We’ll ask three quick questions, hang the uniform, and the student will be able to move on to his/her day. We will check the uniforms in detail after the students are in class. Students will be asked three questions when they return the uniform:

Are you returning to band? Does your uniform still fit? (please have students try on ahead of time) Does anything need to be repaired?

All uniforms should be returned with the following:

A dry cleaning receipt from Yoo’s Cleaners Jacket (empty pockets) Pants (empty pockets) Uniform bag (empty pockets) Hat and plume if student is not returning to band Students returning to band will keep their hat/plume over the summer

Anyone not returning to band is welcome to donate pep band shorts/shirts and black drillmaster shoes to the band. Every year we have students who struggle to finance participation in the band. Please consider donating those items (in good condition) by sending them to school with your stu-dent. Parents: Please help your student be prepared to answer the first three questions, and check that everything is in order for returning the uniform. We would rather not have to track anyone down for missing items. Stay tuned for summer fitting details as we learn the construction updates to the building. Please direct questions to Kathy Luddy, kathyluddy@gmail.com, 402-980-5093

The Mustang Jazz Bands competed at the UNO Jazz Festival on Friday, February 27th. Below are the results of their performances.

Jazz I - Superior rating

Outstanding Soloists: Andrew Barber, Chris Belik, Carmen Vogt, Beth Shavlik

Jazz II - Superior rating

Outstanding Soloists: Abbey Monahan

Millard North Band Boosters Newsletter 7

Our Band’s themed hallway for this year’s 2015 After Prom; hit it out of the ball park, was a slam dunk, and ran it in for a touchdown with students and parents alike!

A HUGE THANK YOU to all who made the Band’s “Fantasy Sports” hallway a fan filled event by creating or donating sports equipment, shirts, memorabilia, and so much more.

Many students and parents spent hours decorating the night before prom, helping out with finishing touches the day of, and making sure all games, snacks, and photo ops scored BIG with the students and event staff.

Not only was our décor a huge knock-out, so were the lively games of sports trivia, the “abnormal sports games”, and concessions provided right in the hallway area. All these activities included prizes (BIG and small) for students to win during this overnight event. A huge thank you to the shop stu-dents that built several games to provide friendly competition and enjoyment.

Next year’s theme and location planning has already started… updates coming your way this fall!

Again, thank you to all for your help! Paula Hardin, After Prom Chairperson

The Millard North High School building will be under major construction this summer. Therefore, the original 2015 Summer Schedule published in the January 2015 Newsletter is going to be un-dergoing a few changes as well. Some of the rehearsals may even move to other locations within the Millard District. As soon as the band directors are aware of the exact changes, the band website will be updated, e-mails will go out to all parents, posts will show up on Facebook, and the band might even “tweet” about it! Hopefully, by the time the May Newsletter is pub-lished, the final schedule will be available. But for now, keep an eye on social media!

Millard North Band Boosters Newsletter 8

Millard North Band Boosters Newsletter 9

Millard North Band Boosters Newsletter 10

Newsletter Comments The final newsletter for the 2014-15 school year will be published in May. This newsletter will have a special section in it to honor our graduating seniors. Please forward to me a JPG of your student’s senior picture for inclusion in the final newsletter. You may also mail an original to me, and I will scan and return it to you. I would like to have these no later than May 10th. Thanks for your help! Marcia K. Shavlik, MN Bands Newsletter Editor 13447 Valley Street, Omaha, NE 68144 402-659-7974 mks345@yahoo.com

Date Event Location/Time

Thursday, April 30, 2015 Music Dept. Awards Banquet 5:00 p.m.—Mustang Center

Tuesday, May 5, 2015 Spring Band Concert 7:00 p.m. MNHS

Friday, May 8, 2015 Big Band Dance 7:00 p.m. MNHS Gymnasium

Tues., Wed., Thurs., May 12-14, 2015

Uniform Check-In 7:30 a.m. (before school)

Saturday, May 24, 2015 Commencement 4:00 p.m. CenturyLink

Members of the 2015 Show Band that accompanied the Show Choirs this year. This group of musicians was awarded the “Best Band” Award three times this season! A school record!