Odem Bands – Week of 8/24/2020

Welcome to the second week of school! This school year is starting virtually, and we ask that parents help us ensure students are completing their assignments each day. Per TEA we have to have documentable engagement with students every day to count them present! Please help us make sure students receive credit for their classes.

This week we will have our first football game of the season here at home. We need about ten or so volunteers to please help out in the concession stands on Friday night. Mrs. Edwards will post/provide more information on facebook, but we will require temperature checks, face masks, and social distancing. For those who are attending the games please note that there is a cap on seating capacity this season. In order to support the students involved, the district will sell tickets to Band, Football, and Cheer parents first on Monday and Tuesday from 8am-6pm at our central office. We have provided them with a list of our students in the program to aid with this.

Please see the game day information for our students with respect to the game procedures this week.

For all of our students in Grades 6-12 we will be using a new system called ‘MusicFirst’ for their classes through this virtual time and beyond. MusicFirst incorporates a number of different software that we can use to teach, practice, and assess with. It’s pretty versatile with working on ChromeBooks, Mac, PC, iPhone, etc. We are working through the bugs of starting up with passwords and such, if a student has any issues with it please have them contact myself or Mr. Williams!

Football Game vs. Ingleside:

Friday students will need to be at the Band Hall by 5:15pm to prepare for the game versus Ingleside. We will have shorts/shirts in for each student that will be passed out no later than that afternoon. Students should plan to wear their marching shoes if they have them, or tennis shoes/closed toed shoes if not. (Black would be preferred if there’s a choice) If a student has not paid their $25 for the shorts/shirts please make sure we get that Monday!

Tickets for parents are on sale Monday and Tuesday – be sure you pick them up then! They will move through the community on Wednesday and Thursday before selling what’s left at the gate.

Due to guidelines from UIL we will not be able to send students to the concession stand this week. At the conclusion of the game we will return to the HS and dismiss. I will go over more of the restrictions when we meet this week with the students. Students need to still bring their own jugs filled with water to the game! We are handing out special masks with slits in them tomorrow at rehearsal. Students should be using them each rehearsal and at all performance days. These masks should not be worn outside of those settings though! A regular mask is a better choice outside of our playing situations.

Virtual Only Students:

For any students that will not be returning to Face to Face games/performances will not be required to respect that safety wish. If a student and their parents wish to do so they can still show up to practices and performances. Our district did vote to allow those students to still participate in activities, and we’d encourage them to do so if you are comfortable with that. That being said, those students should not be in attendance as an audience member at the game separately from Band, Cheer, or Football if they’re not with us.

Beginning Band Students:

Just an update for parents. At this point we are planning on assessing students for instruments when we return to face-to-face instruction for the majority of students. For those who are virtual only Mr. Williams plans to have an evening or two that he’ll setup to meet with students. Please stay tuned for more information! We will not be having the instrument drive this week like we had originally planned back in the spring.

Schedule this Week:

Monday: 6:30pm-8:30pm OHS Evening Rehearsal
Tuesday: No rehearsal
Wednesday: 6:30pm-8:30pm OHS Evening Rehearsal
Thursday: 6:30pm-8:30pm OHS Evening Rehearsal
Friday: Odem vs. Ingleside
5:15pm – Students at OHS to Check-In/Get Shorts/Shirts
7:30pm – Game Begins
~9:30pm – Game Ends

Thank you for your help and support as we navigate these turbulent waters! Please let me us know if there are any questions or concerns that we can help you with!