Willoughby South High School Marching Band 

Update 18, Week of October 2, 2023

Attention Parents:  There will always be a parent directed message at the end of these updates

Hello Everyone,

    Very nicely done guys at Avon Lake!  While there were some nerves, I think you handled your first competition very well (both in the performance, and how you carried yourselves at the event).  Now, instead of worrying about qualifying, we can now devote our energies to earning a I at State.  In general, you guys rehearse quite well, so I anticipate that you will do well with what we need to do, which will be to add to what we have visually and refine, refine and refine everything else.  The video is attached to this update.

 Musically,  for state, we STill have some pesky front to back issues that we must rectify, we also need to hit balance, dynamics and articulation.  Visually, we need to add in a bunch of visual enhancements and still have quite a bit of work to do on our fundamentals.  Drill wise, we just need to make sure we are hitting our dots, evolving from set to set correctly, and transitioning at the same time.  It is a lot to do, but we do have the time, rehearsal technique and ability to do it.  Once clean, I think this will be one of the best shows we have ever put out there in the competition era here at South. 

Here are the results from our performance.  I will continue to add to this as we proceed through the competition season so that you can see how our trajectory is moving forward.

*Remember, the Percussion and Color Guard scores/ratings are not a part of the overall score/rating.  However, the percussion contribution is figured into the music, general effect and visual captions while the color guard contribution is figured into the general effect and visual captions.

As I look at the scores, a couple of things come to mind…

• I felt that you guys were on the fence between a I and a II and the scores bear that out.  YES, you should be happy with your performance and that we qualified, BUT realize that you qualified by the skin of your teeth.  Long story short, we have NOT YET ARRIVED just yet and much more work to perfect the show will be necessary.  Which, with 5 weeks to go until State, that is where we want to be.  The past two years, we didn’t qualify until the 2nd week of October, so we are in a good position right now.

• The music judges and the general effect judges are essentially in agreement about where we are performing at this point.  Their consensus reinforces that our performance level at this point is right at the border of a I / II. With Norton coming up Saturday, we want to see their overall consensus trend upward.  Our rehearsal plan for next week (continued work with fundamentals, adding a visual to the 32 hold in III, making some improvements to our balance and hopefully fixing precision at the end of II should result in the numbers going upward.

    COMING UP:  Attached to this update, you will see the schedule for the Norton and Brunswick Competitions.  Regarding State, I will be requesting the November 4 date at Medina.  Times will not be announced until the week before State.  Please clear your schedule for the entire day.

Hey, Seniors….

    After the Avon Lake competition, you will have only 5 weeks remaining of your Marching Band career here at South.   That means that senior recognition night is quickly approaching.  Senior Night will be on Friday, October 20, please make sure that your parents are aware of the date.  I will have a form for you to complete that MUST be returned to me no later than October 11.  THE EARLIER, THE BETTER.

 FORMS  AND FEES, Almost  done with this!!! 

• Band Camp Fee #2 and uniform fees.  You will be receiving an invoice regarding these two fees shortly.

    I am aware that there are questions regarding the student accounts and those will be addressed asap.  I appreciate your patience in this matter.

CRAPPY WEATHER UNIFORMS ™ 

    When we run into absolutely hideous weather (rain, excessive cold), we will opt to wear our “crappy weather uniforms”™ .  This will help us keep the uniforms clean prior to a competition following a rainy Friday night and help keep you warm in excessive cold.  The crappy weather uniform ™ will consist of:

• Uniform Shoes, Black Shoes

• PLAIN BLACK pants, can be anything as long as they are BLACK

• Uniform gray t-shirt on top and wear as much underneath for your comfort.  We will wear raincoats over the top to conceal what you are wearing.

However, we can not wear these unless we have 100% participation.  Please secure what you need so that when I announce crappy weather uniforms ™ will be worn that you are prepared.

PLEASE SELL YOUR UNTIMATE RAFFLE TICKETS!!

Remember, turn in all stubs, unsold tickets (hopefully none) and a SINGLE CHECK from your parents in the provided envelope, payable to the band boosters.  

Remember, this is YOUR organization, you need to do what you can to ensure we have the necessary  funding.

TICKETS / $ ARE DUE BACK ON SEPTEMBER 30

Online Marching Band Photo Album…

    This year, we are operating an online photo album where everyone can access and upload photos from throughout the season.   The album ultimately will be used for the band banquet video.  Please feel free to upload any marching band photos to this album that you may have.  Please use the link below to access the album:

    If you have any questions, please DO NOT contact me as I will not be able to help you.  Please email Kyle Johnson, video GURU at [email protected].  Or, yell at him the next time you see him! 

What is a Marching Band Competition???

    For those of you that are new to the marching band experience, a marching band competition features bands that are similar  in style to how we perform .  While there is a bit of one band vs. another, what I feel should be the emphasis is upon how the band scores against a rubric of standards established by the Ohio Music Education Association.  The group will be judged by 7 adjudicators, two evaluating music, one percussion, one color guard,  one visual and two evaluating general effect (the combination of the musical and visual elements and how they work together).  Each judge assigns a rating of I-V, with a I being a top rating of Superior.  To qualify for state competition, you must earn no less than 3 captions earning a I and 2 captions earning a II.

    One thing that I would ask…  We are always fortunate to have a wonderful crowd of Willoughby supporters.  You will see supporters of other groups kind of, uhm, go a bit over the top in expressing their enthusiasm for their band.  Please, feel free to applaud and support the hard work of our students, but please, avoid things like noise makers, air horns or over-the-top group chants (those who have been to a compeition know that I am NOT kidding).  My favorite over the years was the group of parents doing the “gimme a _____” chant, only to misspell the name of their school.   While these competitions are held in a football stadium, this is not a football game.  The crowd will be quiet during performances (because they actually want to HEAR the performances).  Also, you should avoid getting up in the stands during a group’s performance (in between is just fine).  This will likely be something that you have not seen before, but you can not help but be amazed by the talent level of these students and what they are trying to put out there on a football field.  

STUDENT ACCOUNT INFORMATION

    We are using new software this year to handle student accounts so we ask for your patience as we get this fully operational.  We are aware of some issues and will be addressing those asap.  To help clarify the account information:

Camp Fee:               The amount they were assessed for camp fees

Uniform Fee:         The cost for their uniform parts that were ordered for each student

22-23 Credit:         The amount of carryover from last year.  POSITIVE number means that account still needs to be paid,  

                                     NEGATIVE number means money that remains in that account from last year.

Earned Cred.:         This is money earned from the car washes this summer.  The negative number means that money is 

                                      available to be used as of 8/5.

Pmt. Recvd:             Money that has been paid up through 8/5.

Total Cred. Avail:  The current amount in the student account available for camp fees or future trips.

We will be providing account statements in the near future, but I wanted to get the information out to everyone.

CHAPERONES

If you will be interested in volunteering with the group this summer / fall (chaperoning, uniform room, pit crew) you need to have a background check done.  It is easy and it is free.  There are a couple of steps to follow…

1. I have attached to this update the instructions and the form that needs to be completed.

2. Please complete the form and HAVE YOUR CHILD RETURN IT TO ME AT SCHOOL.

3. I will get the form to Mr. Suttell  for a signature.

4. The form will be forwarded on to HR.

5. HR will contact you to set up an appointment to be fingerprinted.  You will need to bring your driver’s license to the appointment.

6. Background checks are GOOD FOR 5 YEARS.

    HR has advised me that background checks  can take up to 30 days to be processed.  

HOME GAME FOOTBALL TICKETS

    If you are interested in attending one of our home games, you can order your tickets by going to the site below:

    I believe that they do NOT sell tickets at the gate, so you will need to order tickets here.  For AWAY GAMES, I will send out the link once I receive it from athletics.

Any questions about anything marching band, please email me at [email protected].  See everyone on MONDAY.