November 29- December 3

I hope that you and your family had a good time together this Thanksgiving holiday.

Time is flying by and we are quickly approaching the half way mark in the year, and that means it's time for our Winter Concerts!  Every instrumental student will perform- Beginning Band, Concert Band, Wind Ensemble, Jazz Band and String Orchestra all perform on Thursday, December 9 at 7:00 in the PAC.  The call time for all students is 6:00 in room 107.  In all ensembles except Beginning Band, students are to wear their ensemble dress and tuxedo.  For Beginning Band, students wear concert black.  That means males wear black dress shoes, dress slacks and a white button up dress shirt; a tie is optional.  Females may choose to wear a dress/ skirt that falls below the knees when seated or elegant black slacks and top.  If you have questions about appropriate performing attire, contact me ASAP.  With our first formal performance comes a reminder about grades- students must be academically eligible to perform (2.0 minimum GPA with not more than 2 F's).  If a student's grades are too low, the student is still required to attend the performance, but will be required an alternate assignment.  There is NO excused absence for any student for any reason from our performance.  Students who miss this performance may fail the ensemble for the semester.

The Music/ Drama Boosters meeting will be Thursday night at 7:30.  I urge you to attend.  We cannot be successful without a strong contingent of parent support at our booster meetings.  So far, attendance has been scarce at best.  The agenda will be along these lines- 7:30 booster business, 7:40 teacher announcements, 7:50 parent planning and feedback time.  If you are a parent of a freshman or sophomore (not excluding juniors and seniors, but you will be graduating soon, too), we need you there!  Immediately following the Booster meeting will be our Big Band Dance committee meeting.  We are also looking for Wind Ensemble & Jazz Band parents who can help carry on the work now being done by parents whose students are juniors and seniors.  It's a great group to work with and with everyone doing their part, no single role is too daunting.

Our tour plans for LA 2010 are coming along well.  All students and chaperones should have paid at least $150 toward the tour costs by this point.  We have had a few students join us in the recent weeks, and we are looking for several more chaperones.  It is an important job and we cannot travel without enough adults- but I try to keep it fun too!  If you'd like more info, let me know or ask at our upcoming booster meeting.  For all the info, go to the Tour 2011 page.

Have you gone to see and review a live performance yet?  There are several performances this week.  Be sure to check my Live Music page for more information about outside performances as well as the form to complete.

November 22-24

Happy Thanksgiving!

This is a short week, made shorter because I will be out Monday at an all day required district training. Students will rehearse in their ensemble with Mr. Roberts.

All students received an account statement last week. If you have not seen this account statement, please ask your student about it. All charges and payments should be listed and the bottom line is labeled "Net Account Total." All students participating in the tour to LA should see a $500 charge and currently have a Net Account Total of $-350, the outstanding balance for tour. Those not participating in the trip should see a Net Account Total of $0. Students should see every payment and charge made. If you see a charge you don't understand or see a problem with a payment you made, please contact me immediately. If your student doesn't know about the account statement, email me and I can send you an electronic copy. Remember that all payments should be made to "Pioneer Music & Drama Boosters."

Our Winter Concert is scheduled for Thursday, December 9 at 7:00 pm. Please be sure to invite your friends and family. All instrumental ensembles will perform.

Don't forget about our Live Review assignment! It's due December 10. I've updated the Live Music page with several performances which you might wish to take advantage of.

Would you like a video of the Veterans Day program? DVD order forms are in my classroom, and videos cost $20. Order forms are not available online.

I wish you and your family a happy Thanksgiving holiday!

November 15-19

Congratulations to the Pioneer Performing Arts for a wonderful Veterans Day tribute!  The PAC was packed to standing room only, with the audience spilling out the back door into the quad.  The audience was treated to a thoughtful, moving tribute to our country and those who have served her.

PHS Orchestra

PHS Wind Ensemble

PHS Jazz Band

Football season is now over.  All students should return their flip folders with all pep band music to me.  I will file all of the music so that next fall it is all ready for distribution.

This week is a little lighter, but there are still some key activities to be aware of.  The second payment for our LA Tour is now past due.  All participants, including parent chaperones, should have turned in $150 so far.  Checks can be made out to "Pioneer Music & Drama Boosters." If you have questions about the details of our trip, please see the tour page here.

To offset some of the costs of our program, students are able to participate in fund raising opportunities.  The first round of our first fund raiser is going on now.  Students who have their grab bag of coffee and cookie mix should collect all money ($12 coffee/ $13 cookie mix) and turn it in to me by Friday.  Checks should be made payable to "Pioneer Music & Drama Boosters."  Did you miss out on the first round, but still hope to participate and make some money?  Review this fundraising form and submit it by this Friday.  For those who join us this time, we anticipate delivery of the product in early December, with plenty of time to distribute items before the Christmas holiday season.

A plug for our Boosters club- we need parents!  In an effort to connect more parents, we may change our meeting format.  If it would help attract more involvement, we will start at 7:30.  The agenda would generally follow this format- 7:30-7:40 general booster management and budget information, 7:40-7:50 program specific information from the directors (instrumental, vocal, drama), 7:50-8:00 parent brainstorming & project work time.  Then at 8:00, each discipline would have time to work with their director for more specific planning.  This means the meetings would be 30 minutes each month, with integrated time for parent feedback and involvement.  For band, we would follow the meeting with a Big Band Dance planning meeting.  We have a great need for parent involvement.  If you find this schedule more helpful for your involvement, let us know so that we can set our schedule accordingly.  Our next meeting is Thursday, December 2.

If you are looking ahead, our next performance is Thursday, December 9 at 7:00.  All instrumental groups will perform.  I have encouraged several more advanced students to consider auditioning for the Santa Clara County Honor Band. Those auditions are December 10.  We will then have our Big Band Dance on February 5.

Don't forget that your Live Review is due on December 10.  Get more info about this assignment, as well as the worksheet on the Live Music section of my site.

Finally, all dresses should be delivered this week.  Girls are reminded that they owe $65 if they haven't paid yet.  Also, there are about 12 boys who have yet to pay for their tux.  I have already paid for them and need families to either pay right away or make arrangements with me for a payment schedule.  If a family needs extra financial aid, I can arrange that if you contact me.

November 8-12

It's been a busy few weeks here at Pioneer!  On Friday, October 29, the Mustangs won the homecoming game against Leigh- go Mustangs!  This morning, the Jazz Band performed at the annual West Valley College Jazz Festival and did a great job.  Thanks to Mrs. Linvill, Mrs. Kanga, Mrs. Canteenwala, Mrs. Grimaud, and Mrs. Higa for driving us.  Next week will be our Veteran's Day Tribute performance as well as the final football game of the year.

Monday- another box of dresses will arrive.  Please assure proper fit of your dress immediately and make needed alterations quickly so that as many girls as possible can wear their ensemble dress for the Veteran's Day performance.

Also on Monday the first round of coffee/ cookie mix will be delivered from the We Care Coffee Company for the fundraiser.  The students who requested to participate in writing will receive their materials Monday after school.  Please sell the product as quickly as possible.  All payments for materials should be made to "Pioneer Music/ Drama Boosters."  Any student who would like to order additional materials or who would like to participate for the first time will be able to place an additional order by Monday, November 29.  Those who participate in this round will take delivery prior to the Christmas holiday and will be able to sell over the break.  If you missed out on round one and would like to join us, or just want to sell more, the order form is online here.

Veteran's Day Tribute, Wednesday
2:30-4:30 mandatory rehearsal in the PAC (7th period students excused from the rehearsal)
6:15 all student call time dressed in room 107.
7:00 program begins
After the program all students must first strike the stage into room 107, then they will be dismissed from the band room.  We ask that families bring a plate of cookies or similar snack food for this event.  As a free event open to the community, we want to put our best foot forward and welcome them to Pioneer and thank those veterans who have served.  A reminder about attire- all boys must be in tuxes and all girls should be in their current ensemble dress.  If a girl's dress is not yet in, she may wear last year's dress or elegant concert black.  Skirts/ dresses must fall below the knee when seated and the blouse/ top must cover the shoulder.  Slacks are also acceptable.

Also on Wednesday- LA Tour Payment #2 of $100 is due.  All students who have paid the deposit and turned in the contract should continue to make these payments.  In order for us to pay our travel company, we must to have money from all participants.  We are still looking for several chaperones.  If you are interested, contact me or submit your deposit and contract.  Students who have not yet paid a deposit may still join us with a $150 payment and submission of the Tour Contract.  All tour info is on my blog.

Friday, November 12 is our final home football game of the 2010 season.  I know that the students are out of class that day, but we will still perform for our football team.  Call time is 6:00 in room 107 as usual.

A reminder about money- all students must pay for their performing attire!  Tuxes are $125 and dresses $65.  Students who did not take advantage of the current fundraiser are expected to make payment in full or in part right away.  Students who would like to make payments need to make those arrangements with me directly as soon as possible.

Jazz Band at the 2010 West Valley Jazz Festival

Hannah already banging away on the drums!

Homecoming Rally 2010