October 27th, 2019
Hello Band Families,
Our ShopwithScrip fundraiser is a year long program. You can order e-cards or physical gift cards through out the year. Orders can be placed online through MyScripWallet. You can pay online and get your e-cards immediately or you can order physical cards that will be sent to the school. If you order physical cards you can either pay online or send a check to the school (made out to Villa Park High School March N Spartans).
There are currently some companies offering gift cards in small denominations (see flyer attached) that make great gifts.
If you were thinking about trying the program now is a great time.
There will be a Scrip order, for physical gift cards, placed this Wednesday, October 30th. Once order is placed the cards will arrive to the school about a week later and then be distributed to the families.
Please go to the scrip website, set up an account, browse around at all the gift cards available and see how much our program can earn from each purchase.
A great example of how this can benefit our program is if you shop on Amazon order a gift card (e-card or physical) through Scrip (program gets 2.25% back on each gift card). Then when you shop on Amazon use AmazonSmile and the program will get even more money back. Need more info on AmazonSmile? See flyer attached.
This is a great way to support the March N Spartans with your everyday shopping.
https://www.shopwithscrip.com/
October 22nd, 2019
Senior Band And Color Guard Members Only
We are so excited to announce this to all you! Senior Band and Color Guard members only please save the date of either Monday,October 28th @ 4:00 PM or Tuesday, October 29th @ 4:00 PM (We are waiting to hear back from last years car show winner) as soon as we know the date we will let you know ASAP. Seniors you will be featured on this years car show t-shirt! We will meet at 4:00 PM in full band uniforms and take your picture around and in last years winning car. It should only take about 20 minutes if everyone is on time. You will be wearing full uniform. This is a brand new thing this year. All other grades you will have to wait until you are seniors to see your face on a t shirt!
Seniors more information will be coming out soon. We just need you to save these two dates for us so that you are ready for what ever day works for the car owner. It is going to be so cool to see your faces on our car show shirts!
October 22nd, 2019
Donations Needed
Please Help!
Hello Band and Parents:
Halloween Fest is next Saturday, October 26th which also means our next fundraiser is this Saturday as well! The booster board is in need of your help. We need a few items donated to help this fundraiser run smoothly:
At the event we will also be selling soda and water. We need everyone to participate by bringing in the following items. These items can be delivered to Majors office any time before Friday, October 25th. Students please stay out of the donated items. When you help yourself to the items it takes away from profit for your band. Help us out by staying out of them.
Seniors : Water Bottles
Juniors: Coke
Sophomores: Diet Coke
Freshman: 7Up
We also need 3 people that would be willing to donate their large ice chest to use to put the drinks in the night of the event. Please clearly mark these items so that we know who they belong to. They can be put in the band room and will be returned to the band room on Monday morning October 28th for you to pick up.
We will also need 2 people to donate the day of the event around 3:00 PM a bag or two each of ice for the coolers. A total of 6 bags of ice are needed. Please let me know if you can help us with the ice or coolers.
Thank you in advance for helping us make this fundraiser a successful one! It takes all of us helping to be successful!
October 2nd, 2019
Disneyland Schedule
Below is the timeline for Marching Bands schedule at Disneyland. Many of you asked for it in order to arrange to go and see the band perform or invite family and friends to see them.
Call Time: 6:30 AM in civics (uniform and instrument already in trailer)
Depart via OUSD buses: 7:00 AM
Arrive at Disneyland Resort : 7:30 AM (move directly to entrance Plaza Compass)
Ticket Distribution: 7:45 AM
Park Opens: 8:00 AM
Trailer at ball Rd/West Street Gate: 1:25 PM
All members meet at Compass: 2:00 PM
Proceed backstage of DCA: 2:05 PM
Meet at trailer for uniform: 2:15 PM
Change into uniforms: 2:15 PM – 2:30 PM
Return garment bags to trailer: 2:30 PM
Get instruments at trailer: 2:40 PM
Warm-Up/tune: 2:45 PM
Move to step-off location: 3:00 PM
Parade starts: 3:32 PM (town square, Main Street U.S.A.)
Parade ends: 4:00 PM (Small World Gate)
Return to DCA backstage: 4:15 PM (reverse process)
Re-entry to park: 5:00 PM
ENJOY THE REST OF YOUR TIME AT THE MAGIC KINGDOM!!!
October 2nd, 2019
Thank you to everyone who came to the first planning meeting for our 2020 Car Show. For those of you new to the car show there was a lot of information, most of which was going over items from last year that we took notes on to discuss. We welcome more parents to join us at the next car show meeting on Tuesday, October 15th at 6:45 pm in the band room. This meeting will focus on the car show flyer.
Below are areas that were discussed tonight:
Car Show Flyer:
1) add a line item for student vehicle entry
2) change picture to include the seniors (have seniors take a group picture with last years winner or another vehicle)
3) have them ready by November 1st
Awards:
1) move away from the plaque, everyone liked the beer mug idea (move forward with looking at prices)
Food:
1) confirm the County of Orange permits and regulations
2) consider event permit to have more than 1 food vendor
Entertainment:
1) more of the students performing (march up and down isles, different ensembles) they need to see who they are there to support.
2) risers worked well
3) speakers on the lift worked well
Facility:
1) make sure person in charge of facilities notifies all groups planning to be on campus that day of event
2) make sure tennis courts are posted that they will be closed at least a week ahead of time
Event:
1) not selling flowers this year
2) move all vendors up towards stage
3) more sitting near stage
4) upgrade on signage
5) keep same weekend
6) order more t-shirts
7) logo accessories (look into items and cost)
Advertisement:
1) invite to City Council (make sure VP city council is aware of car show)
2) start getting flyers out in November/December
3) consider putting on Eventbrite and other sites
Donations:
1) start asking businesses for donations as soon as flyers are available
2) promote companies that donate
Thanks again to everyone that joined us. If you couldn’t come to this meeting are welcome to jump in anytime. There are a lot of little things that needs to be done and if each of take a small part the whole event runs more smoothly.
Brandie Smith
President
October 2nd, 2019
Seniors Only
Seniors we have a super cool opportunity that has never been offered to band members before. Football and cheer are asking this year if Senior band members would like to purchase a vinyl banner with your picture on it that will hang at the football game on the fence at the Homecoming game at El Dorado on October 10th. These will be for you to take home after the game and keep forever. Who does not want a vinyl banner of there child to hang up forever? These are being offered to us at a low cost of $22.00. If you are interested please email a photo of your child (photo should be from the waist up and the higher quality the better since they are being blown up to poster size) along with the name that you would like printed on your banner to Erika Ward at erikaward@sbcglobal.net ASAP. We need the pictures no later then Sunday October 6th. After October 6th we will NOT be able to except any more orders. We have a deadline.
$22.00 cash or check can be given to major in a clearly marked envelope with Erika’s name on it and your child’s name so that she knows who paid.
The picture above is a sample of the football banners. Ours will look the same. This is a super cool opportunity Senior parents do not miss out on this!
Please let us know if you have any further questions
October 1st, 2019
Mandatory Band Practice
All Kids:
You are the lucky winners of an extra band practice on Saturday, October 12th @ 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM at Villa Park High School to get ready for Disneyland.
The great news is your tummies will be full from all the pancakes that you ate prior at the the Applebee’s Pancake Breakfast Fundraiser that morning from 8:00 AM -10:00 AM, because you bought your tickets this week before zero period for $10.00 a ticket. Per major if you do not attend this practice you will not be allowed to go to Disneyland.
September 24th, 2019
Get Your Dinkles On….
We just got the green light from major that we are all clear for the Korea Day Parade this Saturday, September 28th, 2019. Here are the details:
There is a 40% chance of rain on Saturday with 80% humidity. Please have your children hydrate a lot on Thursday and Friday. Please make sure that they eat a really good breakfast and lunch. We do not need anyone getting sick or passing out because they are dehydrated or hungry. This is super important. Booster parents will have water with them and will be marching with the children to water them along the parade route. But they need to hydrate a few days before as well.
Important Details:
Arrive in Full Band Uniform at 12:15 PM to support a 12:45 PM load and a 1:00 PM departure.
All band students will be riding out on the bus except for battery which will be driven out by booster parents.
Leave Los Angeles around 6:00 PM for the return trip.
Children may want to bring some spending money if they would like to buy anything from the street vendors. Booster parents will be feeding the children. Sandwiches, fruit and chips and water after the parade.
Please let us know if you have any further questions. It is going to be a great parade and a great experience for these students to compete.
Please reach out to me if you can donate any of the following items for 160 band students:
uncrustable peanut butter and jelly sandwiches
chips
Ice for the water coolers
September 23rd, 2019
I am going to do my best to update everyone on what little information we know and have. As some of you know Major has been out sick. We as a booster are respecting his privacy and allowing him to heal. That being said we also have had no communication with him. Today he came to work but went home early. We apologize in advance but this week is going to need to be on a moment to moment update as we get the updates from him.
All band students have zero period everyday this week and possible sectionals as needed after school. Please see your sectional leaders to see if you have practice after school or not.
This Friday is our very first home football game! Call time is 5:00 PM in full band uniform. This is mandatory: everyone plays, everyone attends this event. OUSD buses will leave at 5:30 PM. Band will be performing pre-show and the Halftime show. Please plan on attending this game to support our band kids that have worked so hard on this show and are excited to perform it.
Game information:
El Toro Chargers VS Villa Park High School @ 7:00 PM @ El Toro HS
We need a parent to donate 3 bags of ice for the water cooler for our band kids to drink cold water and they will need it after performing. Please email me if you can help us out. As always we will need lots of parent help this Friday. If you are willing to help please find one of us booster parents at the game we are happy to train you.
Saturday Korean Day Parade:
I know you all want an answer as to if we are attending or not and I wish we could give you an answer. This is the best that we can give you right now…. we are waiting for Major to be well enough to answer that question. All students at this point should plan on attending. We have not heard any different and it is on our calendar. We are just waiting for Major to confirm. This is an afternoon parade. We will be feeding the kids after the parade. We need the following things donated. If you can provide any of the items listed below for 160 children please email me and let me know what you will be providing and how many:
160 uncrustable peanut butter and jelly sandwiches
160 variety individual bags of chips
160 cuties or bananas.
As soon as we hear any more on this topic we will immediately email you all.
Pancake Breakfast Tickets: Will be sold before the football game (in the band room) and during the football game (in the stands). Track down Melissa Paonessa to purchase those. Cash or check only please.
Sign ups for the students to volunteer at the Pancake fundraiser will go up the week of October 7th. Please tell your child to be watching the band door for the sign up sheet. All are welcome to volunteer. Do not forget to buy your child a pancake ticket as they will be given breaks that day so that they can enjoy breakfast as long as they have a ticket.
Many of you have seen how cool the program shirts are and now you would like to purchase a shirt. We have good news. We have 18 extra shirts that we can sell to you right now. We have 7 size medium, 8 large and 3 extra large shirts that are ready for you to have now. They will be sold at the pancake breakfast fundraiser. We will except cash, check and card that day. If you are not one of the lucky ones to get one of those 18 extra shirts we have good news we will be placing another order for program shirts, jackets, hoodies etc… the beginning of November. They will be in by Christmas. They make great Christmas gifts for your children (hint, hint).
Important Dates To Save:
October 12th: Applebee’s Pancake Fundraiser tickets on sale now $10.00 each
October 26th: VP Halloween fest (at the Orange Circle) band will be selling tamales and drinks
November 13th: Polly’s Pies Fundraiser Dinner Night
September 3rd, 2019
Change For Friday’s Game September 6th
Hello Parents:
As your child may have already have told you, Major announced it to them on Friday at practice. The football game this Friday, September 6th is no longer a home game it is now an away game for band. Meaning our football team is playing a home game but we as a band will treat it as an away game and will be playing in the stands. Major is bringing full band including PIT to this game and they will play their halftime show from the stands as soon as Trabuco Hills is done performing their show. All band members are expected to be there and ready to blast their instruments.
Band kids need to be wearing black pants and band program shirts (as long as the shirts are in. A parent is picking them up on Friday) and will have them for your child at school before they leave to go home. If by some chance our shirts are not ready, the kids will wear their full uniform. I will keep you posted so please keep checking your email.
For new parents as band parents we like to all sit together to support our favorite band. We usually sit next to the band to cheer for them, water them and plus we are usually the only ones that can handle how loud they are!
If you signed up to help at this football game when you get to the field find one of us board members in the stands and we will have things for you to do to help out during the game. We appreciate any and all help that we can get.
An email went out earlier regarding the band budget for the 2019-2020 that we need all parents to vote on tomorrow night at Back To School Night. If you did not get that email, please check your spam as some people are saying that it was kicked to their spam folder. Voting on this is very important tomorrow. So please take the time to look it over. The board will also be available tomorrow night to answer questions and concerns.
Thank you again to all of you for being flexible and for reading these emails! As always we as a board are happy to answer all questions and concerns, so please do not hesitate to email us.
September 3rd, 2019
Hello Band Parents,
I wanted to reach out to everyone, as the Booster President, mother of a senior and an 8th grader, regarding the first few weeks of the school year and Marching Band. These first few weeks of the school year are always a learning experience for our new families. However, this year has some added complications.
Villa Park High School football usually plays their home football games at Fred Kelly Stadium (Chapman & Prospect). Towards the end of last school year Fred Kelly was demolished and is in the process of being rebuilt. The originally District plan was that each High School would be able to use their newly renovated track and practice field for their home games. Well, if any of you have been on campus you know that the track and practice field are not even open. The track and practice field were supposed to be open to Villa Park students and sports last December. Due to errors on either the architect, the district, and/or the construction company the track was not up to code and had to be redone. That means that there is no home field for any of the OUSD High School Football games. There was a delay in the football schedule coming out while the powers that be decided which games would be ‘home’ games for VP and where they would be played. That schedule is out and hopefully everyone has a copy of the football games. Here’s the interesting part of that, at least for the Marching Band. Even though the game is a ‘home’ game for the football team it does not mean that we will automatically be the ones performing the half time field show. It is up to the school who’s field we are using for a ‘home’ game if they will allow us to perform instead of their band.
This leads into what has been happening so far with our football games. The Mater Dei game was changed by the powers that be, football or band on either side had nothing to do with that. Major decided when it was switched to not have the band attend (I do not have specifics on the reasoning). As for the Trabuco Hills game that has been very confusing the last week. It was originally set as an away game for Villa Park. Tuesday morning Major was informed that it would now be a “home” game (who made the change, I don’t know). Major then asked the Booster Board to get the info out ASAP, which we did (thanks Jody). Now between Tuesday morning and Friday afternoon the game was changed back to an ‘away’ game. Again, no information on why or who made the decision. There is still a possibility that it is a ‘home’ game for football, but we are not performing on the field.
All of this being said it has been a frustrating start to the football season for band. Unfortunately, there may be more changes as we go, as VP, the district, opposing teams, and ‘the powers that be’ are dealing with an unusually situation. My hope is that as the season goes on and things start to settle the game schedule and whether the band is performing halftime field show will be more ironed out and not as many changes. I will do my best to stay on top of it and make sure the opposing school’s band is contacted regarding VP Band having the field.
As the Band Booster President, it’s frustrating in the sense that I want all students and families to have a great experience in our program. But even more so I am sad for my son, who is a senior, and all the other seniors who this is their last year to perform in the program. There is light at the end of the tunnel, albeit the tunnel looks pretty long right now. I ask that all of families stick with us as we get through this rough year and know that this is not the norm for the program. Flexibility is the norm, to some degree, rehearsal times change and/or ensembles rehearsing can change. My suggestion to all is to put every performance/rehearsal on your calendar. Be prepared to get your student there (if they end up not being a part of it bonus for you, a few less after school rehearsals to get to) and attend as many performances as possible, support all the students even if yours is not performing. Our returning students will have a brand-new stadium to perform in next year (hopefully) and we will have a definite schedule of ‘home’ games and a much smoother year (not to mention everyone will be a seasoned band parent).
The Booster Board, Major, and I will do our best to give your students a great experience being a part of the March N Spartans. Some days, weeks, and school years take a little more effort and more bumps along the way. This program is a great program and will give your students a wonderful experience during their High School days.
Again, please stick with us. It will be a great year.
Thanks,
Brandie Smith
Villa Park High School March N Spartans
Booster President (and mom)
August 29th, 2019
Time Change for Friday, August 30th
There is that flexibility Giphy again! Please change your schedule for the following:
Tomorrow Friday, August 30th Marching Band practice has a time change. Practice will now be from 4:00 Pm – 6:00 PM. Location is to be determined. It will either be at Villa Park High School or Serrano elementary. They are trying to get some field time at Serrano, if they can not they will be at Villa Park High School. As soon as we get that information we will send out another email. We at least wanted to get this important information to you. Just an FYI the kids just found out about this change this morning, in case you were wondering why your child did not share this information with you.
If there is some reason why your child can not attend this practice they need to find Sarah (drum major) and notify her.
Please reach out to us with any questions or concerns!
August 28th, 2019
Today’s Email Is Brought to you by the word…. Flexibility
Please make this change on your calendars:
The football game on Friday, September 6th Villa Park VS Trabuco Hills is now a HOME game (it has been changed from an away game). Band WILL be marching pregame and half-time show.This game is a mandatory performance for all members of the marching band. That being said the kids also have a pregame performance to learn next week. All practices next week will be VERY important.
Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns.
August 27th, 2019
Time Change For Saturday’s Football Game
Saturday’s football game Villa Park VS Mater Dei has been changed to a 6:30 PM game time.
Even though the band is not playing please plan on going and supporting our football teams first game.
August 26th, 2019
LAST CALL TO ORDER BAND ATTIRE
All extra band attire orders are due to Major by this Friday, Aug. 30th. Just a reminder that anyone can order these items. Parents if you want to support your favorite bando order yourself a shirt, sweatshirt or jacket. The hooded sweatshirts and zipper hoodie will have the Disney logo on the back of them that matches the program shirts. If you have trouble opening the order form on a mobile device try a desktop computer to open the form.
The art work was done by one of our Band kiddos Sophomore Darren Quintero. Below is the picture of the design on the shirt.
Click on the link at the bottom of this email to print an order form.
Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns. We are happy to help.
Art work was done by one of our Band kiddos Sophomore Darren Quintero.
August 22nd, 2019
Time to be Flexible Again!
Hello Parents and Students:
We told you that you would learn the word “flexible” by the end of the year and we were not kidding. It is time to use our magic word again. We have a change in our March N Spartans schedule. Please delete the football game Villa Park VS. Mater Dei that was scheduled on Thursday, August 29th, it has been moved to Saturday, August 31st but band will NOT be performing at this football game. Please plan on still going and supporting Villa Parks football team as a student.
August 21st, 2019
Snap! Raise Campaign Message From Major Jay
Hi Villa Park HS Marching Band 2019 Parents and supporters!
We’re kicking off our fundraiser with Snap! Raise the nation’s leading fundraising platform for groups, clubs and teams. For the past five years, Snap! Raise has helped more than 35,000 groups in the U.S. raise more than $400M in funding! I’m excited to get started and have one vital request.
I ask that you help your student identify at least 20 people they will reach out to via Snap! Raise, and gather their email address prior to our team meeting on Friday, August 30.
The list of 20 people should include many of your child’s biggest fans and needs to be completed in full to ensure our campaign is set up for success. It is my hope and expectation that each student will have a major impact on our program. Here are the next steps:
· Help your student select at least 20 potential supporters
· Enter their names and correct email into the NOTES feature on your students’ phone
· Avoid using emails of teachers, peers of your students, or strangers
Here are 20 examples of people your student should consider adding at a minimum.
Parent(s)/Guardian #1
Parent(s)/Guardian #2
Grandma
Grandpa
Cousin(s)
Uncle(s)
Auntie(s)
Family doctor
Orthodontist/dentist
Church/Social leader
Scout/troop leader
Family friend #1
Family friend #2
Former coach
School alumni
Local businesses that know you
Neighbor(s)
Parent co-worker(s)
Friend of parent
Adult sibling(s)
Thank you for all of your continued support of our program!
Major
August 13th, 2019
Ensemble Groups for 2019-220
Here are a list of the 2019/2020 ensemble groups that were announced today. Hope this helps parents out when we are trying to figure out what groups our kids are in.
Jody Lemmel
Communication
2019-2020 ENSEMBLE GROUPS
DIXIELAND
Rod : clarinet or soprano sax
Miles : tenor sax
Tommy: Trumpet
Darren: Bone
Alex: Tuba
Dean: Drums
Jake: Banjo
Vincent: Keyboard
MARIACHI
Popo, Michelle, Logan: Violin
Ryan, Yahir: Trumpets
Rod, Martin, Jake: Guitar
Brooke: Bass Guitaron
Aaron: Percussion
POLKA
Vincent: Accordion/Piano
Brooke, Patrick: Trombone
Darren: Tuba
Ryan, Yahir: Trumpet
Michelle, Sophie: Clarinet
Angel: Percussion
JAZZ COMBO
Miles: Part 1
Ryan: Part 2
Rod: Part 3
Brooke: Part 4
Vincent: Piano
Jake: Guitar
Kyle: Drum Set
Aaron: Percussion
Christian: Bass
JAZZ 1:
Nolan: Alto 1/2
MIles: Alto 1/2
Rod: Tenor 1
Logan: Tenor 2
Sarah: Bari
Ryan: Trumpet 1
Yahir: Trumpet 2
Brian: Trumpet 3
Tommy: Trumpet 4
Anthony: Bone 1
Patrick: Bone 2
Brooke: Bone 3
Darren: Bone 4/Bass Bone
Vincent: Piano
Jake: Guitar
Kyle/aaron: Drum set and Percussion
Christian: Bass
SAXTET
Miles: Alto 1/2
Rod: Tenor 1
Logan: Tenor 2
Sarah: Bari
Kyle, Aaron: Drum set and percussion
Vincent: Piano
Jake: Guitar
Christian: Bass
CHIMNEY SWEEP BAND
Rod: Soprano
Nolan: Alto 1
Milo: Alto 2
Miles: Tenor 1
Logan: Tenor 2
Sarah: Bari
August 8th, 2019
Field Show Performance Schedule
It is football time which means it is time for our kids to perform! Below is the schedule for this years football games and locations. As of right now there are four home football games. One of those home games is Homecoming which we do not perform a field show. Which means there are three field show performances, one parade scheduled and approximately six away games. We are actively seeking additional marching performances at venues such as Disneyland, Universal Studios and Magic Mountain. Please mark these dates on your calendar.
August 29th: Mater Dei vs Villa Park @ Santa Ana Bowl (Away game) 7:00 PM
September 6th: Trabuco Hills vs Villa Park @ Trabuco Hills High School (Away game) 7:00 PM
September 13th: Mission Viejo vs. Villa Park @ Mission Viejo High School (Away game) 7:00 PM
September 20th: Servite vs Villa Park @ Cerritos College Stadium (Away game) 7:00 PM
September 27th: Villa Park vs El Toro @ El Toro High School (Home game) 7:00 PM
October 3rd: Foothill vs Villa Park @ Tustin High School (Away game) 7:00 PM
October 10th: Villa Park vs El Dorado @ Valencia High school (Home game) 7:00 PM
October 17th: Villa Park vs Canyon @ Brea Olinda High School (Homecoming) 7:00 PM
October 25th: Villa Park vs Yorba Linda High School @ Yorba Linda High School (Home game) 7:00 PM
October 31st: El Modena vs Villa Park @ Segerstrom High School (Away game) 7:00 PM
Parade:
September 28th: Los Angeles Korean Days Parade
