North Pole Band

Dear Band families,

I hope you’ve had a restful weekend. Thank you very much for your support at the football game last Friday. I thought the band did a terrific job at the school’s first pep band performance in recent memory. Among the people who congratulated us on a fine job were Coach Hollett (varsity football) and Mrs. Michelle Spillane, the principal of North Pole High School.

This week the band will have two evening events:

Open House Pep Band Performance – Wednesday, August 30th @ 5:15 PM
Varsity Football Game – Friday, September 1st @ 7:00 PM

Open House:

Band students will have a call time of 4:45 for the Open House event on Wednesday, August 30th. The band’s performance obligation is fairly short. They’d like us to perform a few of our pep band tunes at 5:15 in the lobby as parents arrive. The students should be finished by 5:45 at the latest. If you’ve never been to Open House before, it’s a terrific opportunity to meet your student’s teachers and to see what the NPHS community has to offer in terms of extra-curricular activities. If you are interested in speaking with me, I’ll be at a table for the band and orchestra after our performance until 7:00 PM.

Football Game:

The band will also perform at this Friday’s varsity football game against Wasilla on Friday, September 1st. This Friday’s game is unique in the sense that it falls on a Teacher Professional-Development Day. Students will not have school this Friday, but they do have a football game to attend. If your student is a member of the Junior Varsity football team, they are excused from performing with the band at this Friday’s varsity football game due to the fact that they have a JV football game the same night.

Here is the performance itinerary for Friday, September 1st:

5:15 PM – Band students arrive. We are not wearing uniforms for this game.
5:30 PM – Rehearsal begins.
6:15 PM – Rehearsal ends.
6:20 PM – Inspection occurs (flip folder with all tunes, water bottle, poncho).
6:40 PM – Band students line up outside of the band room.
6:45 PM – Band enters the stadium and plays a brief warm-up.
6:50 PM – Perform the fight song as the team enters the field.
6:55 PM – Perform the National Anthem.
7:00 PM – Football game begins.
9:00 PM – Typical time for the football game to end.
9:15 PM – Return to the band room and dismiss.

In addition to these events, we will also begin holding regular Tuesday afternoon percussion sectionals this week from 2:45-4:15 PM.

Students will also be issued a Band Handbook during class on Monday, August 28th with a page for parents to sign at the end. I will make sure to email a copy home for you to read as well. Don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns. You can also view the full calendar of events at http://www.northpolebands.org/calendar/.

Sincerely,

Dr. Michael McConnell
Director of Bands
North Pole High School