We begin first by congratulating our seniors who graduated Friday night! While we are out of school for the year, we have a few events still to come in the next month. For ease of reading we’re going to place each under a heading. Of note is our Send-Off Recital Tuesday at 6 pm, followed by our monthly booster meeting at 8 pm (Please note time change), State Solo and Ensemble Friday/Saturday, Trip Rehearsals/Trip, Guard/Drum Major/Leadership Camp at East Texas A&M University Commerce, and then future Summer Band Information. Please feel free to contact us about any questions you have about any of these upcoming events if we don’t cover the information you need here. 

State Solo and Ensemble Send-Off Recital

We are excited to have eight students who have advanced to the UIL State Solo and Ensemble Contest on Saturday! In order to give them another run to help their nerves, and let family and friends see their hard work! The event begins at 6pm, and we ask that participants arrive about 5:40 pm to have plenty of time to get ready.

UIL State Solo and Ensemble Contest

Those students who advanced to UIL State Solo and Ensemble should meet at the Band Hall by 10 am on Friday. We will load and head up to check in at our hotel in Buda. We will stop for students to get lunch on the way up somewhere. After we check into the hotel we plan on heading to a center that has movies, arcade, food, and more. Saturday morning we will have breakfast at the hotel before departing for Lehman HS. It is a public event that family/friends may attend! For directions on the site for parking please see this page at UIL: https://www.uiltexas.org/files/music/Lehman.pdf (Scroll down toward the bottom for maps)

The following are the times/rooms/judges for each student:

Student	Time	Room	Judge
Benjamin Castañeda	10:00 AM	D209	J Walburn
Priscilla Jaime	10:10 AM	D207	M Ellen Cavitt
Macy Laird (Piccolo)	10:20 AM	B202	E Martinez
Berta Jasso	10:20 AM	B209	J Walburn
Macy Laird (Alto Flute)	10:40 AM	B202	E Martinez
Alexander Rodriguez	10:40 AM	B209	J Walburn
Lilah Morin	10:42 AM	Mariachi	R Chavez
Jesus Gomez	11:00 AM	D210	J McNair
Julissa Huerta	12:00 PM	Black Box	S Gill

Students will have a small per diem to help with meals, but should bring extra spending money for Friday evening and snacks/meal overages/movies, etc. The do sell event t-shirts, patches, and other state merchandise too that students may wish for souvenirs. 

After our final performance we’ll check out and then go find lunch nearby before heading home. We tentatively should return around 6 pm. Students may be picked up from the event, but we do need this form signed (http://www.odembands.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Alternate-Travel-Transportation-Form-2022.pdf) , as well as another sign out sheet. Please contact Mr. Rash if you have any questions about that. 

Owl Band Boosters Meeting

Tuesday night at 8 pm, following the recital, we will hold our monthly Owl Band Booster Meeting. We are currently looking to fill 2 officer positions and are in need of adults to fill those roles. Any parent/guardian or relative with a student in band, Grades 6-12 next year is eligible, and we hope you’ll consider coming to help us fill out the board of officers. 

The Owl Band Boosters is one of the most important supports for our band program in Grades 6-12. Each year they help out with purchasing instruments, props, meals, support trips, clinicians, and more for the program. They also sponsor three $500 scholarships for seniors each year! We need to make sure we have a full slate of officers to continue to operate this invaluable group! Please feel free to reach out to Mrs. Valerie Pena, the president, or any of our current officers for questions you might have!

Florida Trip Rehearsals

Next week on Wednesday, May 27^th and Thursday, May 28^th we will be holding two mandatory rehearsals from 2 pm – 4 pm for our trip participants to prepare for the Foley Workshop component of our trip. It is imperative that every student is present so we can make certain to be well prepared for the workshop. The students get at most two shots to record the soundtrack in the studio – and we want to ensure it’s a recording they are proud of!

We will be giving out additional information to students at those rehearsals too, including hopefully ticket numbers for them to reserve fast passes with, and an update to the itinerary for Wednesday. Please ensure students are there as this was in the agreement signed back in the fall to attend the trip!

Guard/Drum Major/Leadership Camp at ETAMU Commerce

For all students who will be attending this camp, they should have received an email link for registration in the past couple of weeks to the email address they gave. Please ensure you have received that and completed the information. If you haven’t received it, please contact Mr. Rash (rashs@oeisd.org) as soon as possible so we can determine where the system didn’t connect with you!

Pending the final schedule, this is the tentative plan for the trip for those students:

We will be traveling on Sunday, June 14^th to Texas A&M University Commerce. Students need to be at the HS by 4:30 am (Arrival may start at 4:25 am, please do not plan on arriving earlier in this instance!) Students will need to gather their equipment/instruments/needed materials and be ready to load. We will be departing as soon after that as possible!

We will make a couple of stops on our way up for snacks/bathroom/food. Check-in for the camp begins at 12 pm and we hope to make it there about that time. Students need to have all of their forms filled out online in advance. I will try and get in touch with any students that do not have the full set completed, but we do ask parents to hang around for a few minutes after your students arrival just so we verify we have all of the signed forms before you leave. 

After we check students in we will go to a neighboring area with a few fast food restaurants and students will be able to pick where they want to eat an early dinner. Their camps all begin at 5 pm.

There is a wide variety of things students do need to bring to this camp, including bedding, towels, and more. Please see this PDF for more: http://www.odembands.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/ETAMU-Packing-List.pdf  

Wednesday night the Guard and Leadership Camps have a final performance at 7 pm at their ‘Memorial Stadium.’ The camps are concluded for the students at that time, but we will stay one more night just to be safe on our travel home. Thursday we will check out of the dorms and after a breakfast stop head home. Students will need money for Breakfast and Lunch that day on our way home.

Summer Band in July

You can see our full Summer Band Schedule here:  http://www.odembands.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Odem-Bands-2026-Summer-Schedule-v1.pdf  

Some key dates:
July 13^th – 15^th: Guard Choreography Camp
July 20^th: Leadership Training Begins
July 20^th: Percussion Camp (Drumline and Front Ensemble)/Guard Camp Begins
July 23^rd-24^th: Freshmen/New Marcher Camp (with Leadership) in Evenings
July 28^th: Full Band Begins!

This Week’s Schedule

Day:	Event:
Monday:	Band Hall Closed
Tuesday:	Leadership Team Help Needed 10:00 am JH Band Hall to HS 6:00 pm State Solo and Ensemble Send-Off Recital 8:00 pm Monthly Booster Meeting
Wednesday:	Band Hall Closed
Thursday:	Band Hall Closed
Friday:	UIL State Solo and Ensemble 10:00 am: Students at Band Hall to Depart
Saturday:	UIL State Solo and Ensemble See Above Section for more Times

Upcoming Events:

Day:	Event:
May 22nd-23rd:	UIL State Solo and Ensemble
June 1st – June 8th:	HS Band Trip
June 14th-18th:	Color Guard and Drum Major Camp at ETAMU Commerce
June 22nd:	Marching Blueprint Clinic at Odem HS (Leadership Team)
July 13th – 15th:	Colorguard Choreography Camp
July 20th – 23rd:	Percussion/Guard Camp
July 22nd-23rd:	Evening Freshmen and New Marcher Camp
July 27th:	Full Summer Band Begins for All HS Students

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