Pure Magic

Dear Parents,

Where to even begin... It has been a crazy, busy, and phenomenal week in our music world. I'll summarize Chili Bingo Night, and the band festival.  There is also information on our magic show that we're hosting on April 12.

Chili Bingo Night generated $5,959 in profit this year!  We also experienced an all-time presale ticket record, with 4,400 sold before the event!  As you can see, it's the presale tickets that make this event as successful as it is!  At the event, the students who came were well behaved and hard working. I heard multiple parents complimenting the smoothness of this year's event.  Thanks to the students and parents who put countless hours into this event to make it as successful as it is!  I'll be purchasing more storage cabinets, some percussion equipment, and using the rest as financial assistance to needy students next fall.

The NZNMEA Band Festival was hosted by CMS and EVMS, and ran extremely well with students and parents from both schools volunteering backstage, at the snack bar, and at the registration table.  We were on schedule and students were very professional during all parts of the event.  With this said, I haven't begun to speak about how they actually performed!  Take a look at how the Carson Middle students performed:

All scores from judges are out of 100, with a "Superior" rating (I) beginning at 88.  Keep in mind that even earning an "Excellent" rating (II), is really good, especially for a middle school group.

Advanced Strings earned a 92 and a 93, the highest scores earned by this group in their 5 years of existence.
Intermediate Band earned a 91 and a 92 and played, once again, like an Advanced Band.
Advanced Band earned an unprecedented 95 and a 96, the highest scores earned by an ensemble at CMS in at least 3 decades!

I've never received so many compliments about your kids!

• Mr. Jeka said to one of my parents (after Advanced Band), "I thought this was supposed to be a middle school festival."  
• Mr. Doede (of Vivo Band Instruments and a former CMS band director) said to another parent, "If I was the judge, I'd give them a I+" 
• Mr. Zabelsky, one of our judges, talked to the Advanced Strings and Advanced Band students on stage and said, "I am so lucky to have you guys coming up to the high school!" 
• Mr. Brill, EVMS director, said, "The culture of hard work with your kids is the best I have ever seen it."  

Bottom line: I have the best job in the world! Everything came together perfectly at this festival and your kids are incredible!  Students in the younger ensembles will be part of this growing tradition of excellence next year.  It's pure magic!

The Magic Show on April 12 is an event donated to us by magician Garry Carson. For $10 each, you can see a world-class performance by a magician who was voted "Family Entertainer of the Year." His Magical Mystery Tour is stopping in Carson City on April 12, and 100% of every ticket sold goes back to our program!  All interested students took tickets home, and I actually ran out of tickets before I could get to everyone!

• Students with tickets need to bring all money AND unsold tickets back on Apr. 4. I will redistribute tickets to those who couldn't get them last Wednesday.
• All parents with connections are asked to request sponsorships from their workplaces to help cover travel expenses for Garry Carson.

Practicing

Students in Concert Band, Intermediate Band, Beginning Band, and Beginning Strings have a Spring Break practice log.  Please make sure they're practicing so we can keep this amazing momentum.  

Students in Advanced Band and Advanced Strings do not have practice logs, but they should still be practicing the following: 

• Advanced Band: All major and minor scales in the book and their 2 octave chromatic scale (preparing for Wind Ensemble auditions)
• Advanced Strings: William Tell Overture, Night Shift, Japanese Hoedown (preparing for String Fling)

Looking Ahead

• April 12: Magic Show with Garry Carson, Brewery Arts Center, 7:00 PM
• April 13-16: All-State in Las Vegas
• April 20: String Fling (mandatory for all strings), EVMS
• April 21: Band Festival in Fernley (mandatory for Concert Band, Beginning Strings, select members of Beginning Band and Advanced Strings)
• April 25: NZNMEA Jazz Festival in Yerington (mandatory for Jazz Band)

If you made it this far, thank you!  

Mr. Jacques

Fundraisers and Festivals

Dear Parents,

We are reaching the busiest time of the school year in our music world.  Here's what I'm covering in this update:

• Last week's Washoe County Band Festival
• Chili Bingo Night
• NZNMEA Band Festival
• NEW-Magic Show Fundraiser

Washoe County Band Festival

Intermediate and Advanced Bands did very well at their performance last week. In addition, Advanced Band traveled to UNR and worked with Dr. Chamberlin, director of bands.

Advanced Band with Dr. Chamberlin in Nightingale Concert Hall on Mar. 9.

Intermeidate Band on stage at the Washoe County Band Festival.

Intermediate Band earned two "Superior" ratings and one "Excellent" rating.

Advanced Band earned three "Excellent" ratings.

Here's how the festival rating system works:

I - Superior, the very best performance.  The band executed all aspects of music making very well at all times.
II - Excellent, a great performance.  The band had some minor musical imperfections but was overall very good.
III - Good, an average performance.  The band had several mistakes, but songs are still recognizable.
IV - Fair, a below average performance.  Quite a few errors in notes and rhythms.  Songs sound bad and are hard to recognize.

Several of my band director colleagues said that these performances rivaled or exceeded the quality of most groups, including some high school bands.  What great kids!  Thanks to the chaperones who helped these trips run so smoothly.

Chili Bingo Night - Friday March 18
Congratulations to your students on raising over $1,500 in pre-sale raffle tickets!  We have another 5 days of selling, and I can't wait to see what your students accomplish. Now that we're in the final stretch, I encourage you to help them out by selling them at work and selling them to anyone else that you know. The event is on Friday, Mar 18, at 6:00 PM in the CMS Cafeteria.  We are in great shape with help, both from parents and students.  This event is all about fun!  Here's what we have to offer:

• Chili cook-off competition: Enter a chili and come sample everybody's tasty creations.
• Bingo games: Play for prizes that include golf, food gift certificates, a flat screen TV, and more!
• Raffle drawings: All items from the prize list will be available, as well as a couple new items you'll have to be there to see.  Last minute tickets may be purchased at the event and winners will be selected.
• Advanced Strings will perform at 5:45 PM as our patrons arrive.

Top prizes for students will be handed out on on Friday morning in class. If your student's class has 100%, they will be rewarded with an in-class root beer float party on Wednesday, March 23!

NZNMEA Band Festival - Tuesday March 22

The next performance for Advanced Strings, Intermediate Band, and Advanced Band is on Tuesday, March 22 at the band festival, located at the Community Center.  As hosts for the event, I have enlisted help from a few students.  We could use a couple more parent volunteers, so if you're available during the day and you want to hear some great music perform from our area schools, let me know! Here are the performance times for our ensembles:

• Beginning Strings - 8:25 AM 
• Intermediate Band - 9:15 AM
• Advanced Band - 11:20 AM

Students in Beginning Strings and Intermediate Band need to be dropped off at the Community Center by 7:45 AM.  They will ride the bus back to CMS at 9:45 AM so they don't miss too much school.  Advanced Band will go to school in the morning and get a bus ride to the Community Center at 10 AM.  They will return to school at 12:30 PM for the remainder of their day.  Send your Advanced Band student with a sack lunch or $5 for a pizza lunch being provided at the event.

NEW: Magic Show - Tuesday, April 12

I have been working with Garry Carson, a magician from Las Vegas.  He is doing a FREE show for us in exchange for working with local businesses to obtain sponsorships to help cover his production and travel costs. This will be done by contacting businesses who were not contacted for Chili Bingo Night donations.  See the attached letter in the email for details on how this works.

We will also be selling tickets for $10 each, with 100% of sales going directly back to us.  If each student sells 2 tickets, we will sell out and have an instant profit of $3,000!  I have booked the Performance Hall at the Brewery Arts Center for this event.  We will also have a concessions table, which with permission from BAC, might include a bake sale.

Ticket sales will open at Chili Bingo Night and continue until we are sold out.

That's "all" for now.  Have a great week!

-Mr. Jacques-

Chili Bingo Night

Dear Parents,

The Chili Bingo Night Fundraiser is now officially upon us! The event itself is on Friday, March 18 in the CMS Cafeteria. A huge thanks goes out to some incredible parents and volunteers: Dawn Cuellar, Raynell Heaton, Jen Simkins, Vicki Crickon, Hope Chowanski, and Cheryl Richetta for seeking out the amazing prizes.  Here is everything you need to know:

On Wednesday, March 2, each student received an envelope with a prize list and 10 tickets.  They may sell as many as the'd like!  Here are the important facts that students must remember about selling these tickets:

• They MUST collect the money at the time of sale.
• They need to include the following information on each ticket:
• Buyer's name
• Buyer's phone number
• Item number (if the buyer wants their tickets to go towards a specific item)
• They must bring the tickets AND the money back to Mr. Jacques.  (buyer does not keep the tickets)

This fundraiser is extremely profitable because the profit margin is 100%.  All prizes are donated.  Also, since the band/orchestra is running this by themselves, we will receive every dollar raised through not just the raffle, but through Bingo games, food sales, and the silent auction that are all taking place on March 18.  

This raffle is unique because you can choose which item you want to win.  Your chances of winning what you want will increase, and you won't win anything you don't want. 

Students can come back for as many tickets as they want!  You are encouraged to go to your neighbors, relatives, friends, and coworkers and help your students sell.  There are top prizes for students, and they were very excited to know what they might be able to win:

• Sell 10 tickets: Receive 1 free ticket for the item of your choice.
• Sell 50 tickets: Receive a coupon for a free sub from Firehouse Subs
• Sell 100 tickets: Receive a coupon for a free pizza. 
• Sell the most tickets in the entire program: Receive a $30 gift card to the business of your choice, OR a free e-reader!
• If each student in a class sells at least 10 tickets, they will all receive an in-class root beer float and movie party on March 23!

Our fundraising goal is $7,000 and with your support, we can easily surpass that amount.  Last year, we earned $6,300!  

I'll be updating the newsletter again with the usual news and updates later this weekend.  Enjoy the beginning of an amazingly fun and profitable fundraiser!

-Mr. Jacques-