We begin this week by congratulating senior trumpet player Benjamin Castañeda on earning a spot in the All-State Band on Saturday! This is the first time in school history we’ve had a trumpet player make the All-State Band! Ben will travel to San Antonio from February 11-14^th for the All-State Clinic/Concert that is part of the Texas Music Educators Association Convention. 

We also want to congratulate Eva Garcia (4^th chair) and JJ Gomez (9^th Chair) on their outstanding auditions on Saturday. Although they didn’t advance to State, both did an incredible amount of work and gave great performances.

January is a relatively light month for us, but we will have high school band rehearsals from 6 pm to 8 pm on Thursday nights, beginning this week. We’ll focus on helping students prepare for our Windi and Jazzi performance music, since that event and our spring concerts will come much earlier in the year than in recent years. At the end of that rehearsal we will also begin signing up for rooms for the Florida Trip for those students who are traveling with us!

Also, from 4 pm – 5:15 pm, we will try to get our jazz band back up and running. All 8^th Grade through high school students are invited to join the group. We’ll rehearse at the high school for the first time that day this week. 

As a reminder, Spring Band Fees for 7^th-12^th Grade Band students are due on January 30^th. Those fees help us purchase supplies, bring in clinicians, and take care of other spring band expenses that come up for the programs. Checks or Money Orders only, please, made out to OEISD.

2026 Florida Trip

We ask that parents/students please check in on their trip accounts this week. This website link https://bobrogerstravel.grcoll.co/v2/go/odem26  should let you access the site. If you have any questions or concerns, please let me know!

This Week’s Schedule

Day:	Event:
Monday:	Band Hall Closed After School
Tuesday:	Band Booster Meeting 6 pm
Wednesday:	Band Hall Closed After School
Thursday:	Jazz Rehearsal 4 pm – 5:15 pm Evening Rehearsal 6 pm – 8 pm
Friday:	Band Hall Closed

Upcoming Events:

Day:	Event:	Time:
January 30th	Spring Band Fees Due
February 11th-14th	Texas Music Education Association Convention (All-State Band)
February 19th	Annual Odem S&E Recital
February 20th-21st	All-Region Jazz Clinic and Concert (JH and HS)
February 26th	UIL Solo and Ensemble Contest (JH and HS)
March 23rd	HS Pre-UIL Contest Concert
March 24th	JH Pre-UIL Contest Concert

Thank you for your help and support of these amazing students! Please contact us if you have any questions!