Author: Mark Follett

Just a quick update as we’re back from the long weekend

1. Fundraising has started! Neufeld Order Forms have been sent home with kids – extras are available in the Band Room. Deadline for submission is Oct 18 (midnight for online orders) and pickup is Wednesday Oct 30^th at 7pm – people must pick up their orders as we cannot hold them. Anyone with questions can email Pamala Combs at pamala.combs@telus.net or call/text 604.838.7877
   • Hard copies of order forms are still available in the band room
   • Online orders are live through SchoolCashOnline
2. Practice Cards are live and on to their 3rd week. Please ensure your child asked you to sign off on their Practice Card 2 (weeks 3 & 4) this weekend. I’m asking the kids to log what they are practicing, not how much, as part of their reflection around effort and musical growth. The next one, Practice Card 3 (weeks 5/6), is out in hard copy and live this week.
3. Concert Uniforms: Concerts are coming so please ensure your child has their dress blacks as outlined in the fall. For seniors, ties and scarves have arrived and will be distributed this week.
4. Concert Dates – Please be sure you have the following dates saved in your calendar:
   • Oct 22 – Senior Choir – District Choral Festival
   • Oct 30 – Senior Wind Ensemble – District Band Festival
   • November 5 – Junior 8/9 Night of Music at Poppy (6:30 call, 7:00pm start)
   • November 6 – Senior 10-12 Night of Music at Poppy (6:30 call, 7:00pm start)
   • December 4 – ESPRESSIVO
5. Please consider making a donation towards ESPRESSIVO or volunteering your time to help out for our major event December 4th. Any items for Silent Auction or $5.00+ gift cards for the balloon pop are greatly appreciated! Please contact Cathy Gropp (bercatnik@gmail.com) and she will connect you with the appropriate parent volunteer/volunteer coordinator.

I hope everyone had a wonderful long weekend and thank you all for your ongoing support of your child’s music education!

Band students have Practice Cards this year. Based on the How To Practice handout, the Practice Cards are due every two weeks and give musicians a means of tracking their efforts towards improvement and assist in reflecting on their contribution towards the ensemble. It is not about how much time is spent, but how effectively time is spent. The first Practice Card is due the week of September 30 and will be accepted through that Friday.

Please help your child remember to tag the card and record the material they work on. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask!

I’d like to take a moment to officially welcome Ms. Caswell to the DW Poppy Music Department. She will be joining us to teach Choir, Musical Theatre, Vocal Jazz and the band/choir programs at Wix-Brown and Coghlan.

We’ve just completed our first full week here at Poppy and there are a few things we need to update everyone on:

1. The Student Info and Expectation Forms (19|20 – SIUoE Form) that have not been submitted are now due. Please print one off and send it in Monday if you have not yet so that everyone is clear on our school concert dates and other music activities this year. The handbook is available online if you haven’t seen it come home yet (or you are a 11/12 and are viewing only online).
2. Startup Materials Orders will be placed midweek so please ensure you have paid for the required and optional purchases that apply to your child. Payments for startup item are still on SchoolsCashOnline and deadlines have been extended to Tuesday for:
   • Stick Bag Packages ($85)
   • Band Folders ($27.50)
   • Sound Innovations Book II ($10)
   • Senior Choir and Band ties and scarves ($25)
3. There are playing assignments for Band 8, Band 9, Band 10 and Junior Jazz due during their first class next week. Assignments are posted to their individual webpages along with reference recordings and other class information. Please ensure your child pulls their instrument out for a few minutes this weekend to prepare!
4. CareerLife Education 9 is now running in the Band 9 class. These students have their first assignment due Thursday, September 19. All assignments will be available through the CLE 9 page this year.
5. Please remember to save the date for the DW Poppy Music Parents AGM on Wednesday, September 25. We will start at 8:00pm (after the grade 8 and 12 parent nights conclude) and we aim to run 30 minutes or less but we need your help to ensure a great experience for your kids this year.

Thanks so much for your support of you child’s music education. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Ms. Caswell (Choir 8-12, Musical Theatre 8-12, Poppy Vox 10-12) or myself (Band 8-12, Jazz Band 8-12) via email.

Have a great weekend!

It has been a busy week here in the Music Department. If you have not heard yet, Mr. Ablitt has left for a position closer to home in Surrey. We found out a week before school started so it has been a different startup this fall. Mr. Follett will be taking over the Band 9/CLE class this year I hope to be able to announce our new Choral Director and band/choir director at Wix-Brown and Coghlan shortly.

With the change in staff, there were a few edits missed with this year’s handbook caught after classes yesterday but the full corrected 19|20 – Handbook is available online here. We will be announcing tours next week (but sadly, we won’t be back to ConBrio Whistler this year as indicated in the first version of the handbook).

ACTION ITEMS: Your child needs your help with the following few things to get their year in music rolling.

1. DUE ASAP: The need their instrument at rehearsal every class from now through the end of the year. If you haven’t got their instrument yet, please make that happen as soon as possible. Please let me know if you need support.
2. DUE FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13: SchoolsCashOnline order for Band Folders (Band 8’s and replacement orders), Sound Innovations Book II (Band 8’s and Band 9 replacements) and Senior Uniform Ties and Scarves (Grade 10’s and 11/12 replacements)
3. DUE FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13: Please complete and return your child’s 19|20 – Student Information and Understanding of Expectations Form
4. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25 – SAVE THE DATE: After the grade 8 and grade 12 parent nights will be our DW Poppy Music Parents AGM. I strongly encourage all new families to attend for a brief overview of the program and plans for the year. Poppy Music had over 50 parent volunteers involved last year that helped make the program so successful. I look forward to seeing everyone there.

With our last full week of school upon us, this is a very busy week for instrumental musicians at Poppy.

• Monday is Massed Band at lunch – all band students must attend this dress rehearsal
• Wednesday morning is our final Senior Wind Ensemble rehearsal. Please in sure you’re there on time with all materials as will be collecting the remaining non-concert music.
• Wednesday is our final concert and awards night. Call is 6:30 and the show starts at 7:00 – admission is by donation at the door.
• As Wednesday is our final concert, it is also the last opportunity for students to take care of their second semester concert set up requirement. Set up will start right after school and should be rather quick. I expect we will be done the majority by 3:15. Please remember that concert set up is a requirement for all band students once a semester. If your child did not set up in March or at the jazz or choir night in the last few weeks, they do need to be there to meet this requirement.
• As is tradition, Friday is the music lunch with Pizza on the department. Please drop by for a slice before the school awards assembly.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email me. We have a great show planned for Wednesday and it’s a great opportunity to celebrate the successes and achievements of our young musicians.

So it’s that time of year again. Jazz Cafe is happening on Thursday, May 23 at the Fort Langley Community Hall and it would be great to have a Parent-Staff-Alumni Band for the show again. We’ll prep 2 tunes for the show:

• Summertime – Heyward & Gershwin, Arranged by Michael Sweeney
• Ja Da – Arr. Michael Sweeney

We will have a rehearsal before the show at 8:00pm in the Band Room at DW Poppy on Monday, May 13.

If you would like to look at the parts before the rehearsal, send me an email at mfollett@sd35.bc.ca

If you are looking for hanging baskets, potting plants, herbs, potting soil or other gardening materials, DW Poppy Music is running our next fundraiser right now. The order form has gone out to students but you can also download it here.

Spring Planting order form – 2019

Orders are due Friday, April 26, 2019 and can be picked up Wednesday, May 8th at the school. Thanks very much to Cathy Gropp for organizing this next fundraiser. Contact her at bercatnik@gmail.com if you have any questions and thank you for supporting our young musicians!

It certainly has been an interesting week so far 😊. Fingers crossed for tomorrow’s weather.

As long as classes are on tomorrow, Junior and Senior Jazz Ensembles will be attending the Vancouver Kiwanis Jazz Festival so please ensure your child arrives in the band room at 8:00am in their uniform with their instrument, music and a bag lunch as we will not have the opportunity to purchase one. We will be traveling by district busses to the  Bethany Baptist Church in Richmond. The email band member parents should have received at about 6:50pm Tuesday evening included another copy of the information letter that went out previously to clarify any other details. We will be back by 2:30pm as our buses are part of the regular school bus schedule.

Please check the district website Wednesday morning for any clarification necessary regarding weather. If for some reason your child is not attending tomorrow, please let me know so I am able to adjust our plans accordingly.

Many Thanks – Mr. Follett

P.S. Members of Senior Wind Ensemble, please remember that regardless of the weather, we have no rehearsal tomorrow before school due to the festival