Lots to be Thankful For...

Dear Parents,

We have just completed a record-breaking fundraiser.  $15,914 raised from a single event is absolutely incredible. If we count the money earned from the chili cook-off and the snack bar (these profits went to the Carson High School Band), we made a total of approximately $17,500!  Almost $8,000 of this went directly into student's spring trip accounts, with the remaining money going into our general fund.  Check out the top sellers, class participation percentages, and perhaps the most incredible part, our running total throughout the month.

 As a result of our efforts, we will not need any additional fundraisers this school year.  I am also pleased to share that I ordered new music stands yesterday. These should arrive just in time for the new year.  To our parents who spent countless hours getting donations, helping their kids sell tickets, donating items from their personal businesses, attending the event, or all of the above: thank you!

FLIPGRID PRACTICING
All students in all classes have a video assignment that's due on Sunday, December 1.  Here are their directions:
- Introduce yourself (name, instrument, band)
- Tell me your most challenging spot in your concert music.
- Why is it your most challenging spot?
- Play it "as is."
- Choose TWO practice strategies to use in order to fix it.
- Practice with those TWO practice strategies.
- Once you practiced the section, play it again.
- Discuss why this worked (or if it didn't, what you'll do next time).
- Finish by telling me what you need to do next so you're ready for the concert.
The practicing and their analysis will count as a practicing grade, and their playing will count as a playing test grade. If you would like to view the assignment and examples of featured student videos, click here: https://flipgrid.com/47fd45d8 

DECEMBER EVENTS
December 3 - Marching Band Rehearsal, 2:30-4:30 PM
December 4 - Advanced Band Rehearsal, 2:30-4:30 PM
December 5: Advanced Band Assembly Tour: Fritsch Elementary, 10:00-10:30 AM
December 6: Advanced Band Silver & Snowflakes Performance, McFadden Plaza, 7-7:30 PM
December 7: Sparks Christmas Parade, 10:00 AM-5:00 PM
December 7: Empty Bowls Performance for Advanced Band, Carson Mall, 5:30-6:00 PM
December 10: Marching Band Perfect Attendance Movie Party, 2:30-4:30 PM
December 12: Advanced Band Assembly Tour: Bordewich Bray Elementary, 10:00-10:30 AM
December 18: CMS Band Winter Concert, Carson City Community Center, 6-8:30 PM
December 19: Advanced Band Assembly Tour: Mark Twain Elementary, 8:45-9:15 AM; Fremont Elementary, 10:00-10:30 AM
December 19: School Assembly performance, 2:00 PM

This has already been quite an incredible year.  Have a wonderful Thanksgiving break and I can't wait to see all our wonderful students for a December to remember!

-Mr. Jacques-

Chili Bingo Night and More!

Dear Parents,

Friday night is the big night! We are excited to be offering a fun, family-friendly evening with delicious food, fabulous prizes, and great company, all starting at 5:00 PM.  Admission is free, and once you're in the gym, you will have an assortment of fun activities to choose from.  Here's a run-down of what we will be offering throughout the evening:

Chili Cook-Off
We will have chili tasting for only $5. We still have spots open if you'd like to enter a chili. Click the link above by Thursday evening if you are interested.

Bingo Games
We are selling bingo cards for just $1 each. With 12 games throughout the evening, you will have many chances to win amazing prizes.  Click here for this year's prize list.

Raffle Drawing
Students have sold over $10,000 presale tickets to this year's raffle, and you still have time to get in any last-minute tickets.  We will sell raffle tickets and draw winners between bingo rounds on Friday night. Tickets are just $1 each and you do not need to be present to win.

Silent Auction
We will also have a silent auction with items that will go home to the person with the highest bid.  Click here for this year's silent auction prize list.

Snack Bar
The Carson High School Band is hosting a snack bar with hot dogs, chips, candy, soda, and other delicious junk food!

Just For Kids
This year, we are also partnering up with Tiffany Rankin, our fabulous leadership teacher, and she will have board games, a movie viewing party, and other kid-friendly activities throughout the evening, so bring the whole family!

I'm looking forward to seeing you all on Friday evening for a wonderful community event that is guaranteed to be fun for the whole family, and all of it will benefit our amazing band kids!

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GRADE NEWS
This week, Smartmusic practice time will be due on Friday.  Students also have a video practice assignment that will double as their playing test, due on December 1.  Students will complete this at home by recording themselves. The link and all directions are in their Google Classroom pages.

UPCOMING EVENTS
November 22 - Chili Bingo Night, 5-8 PM
December 3 - Marching Band Rehearsal, 2:30-4:30 PM
December 5: Advanced Band Assembly Tour: Fritsch Elementary, 10:00-10:30 AM
December 6: Advanced Band Silver & Snowflakes Performance, McFadden Plaza, 7-7:30 PM
December 7: Sparks Christmas Parade, 10:00 AM-5:00 PM
December 7 (NEW EVENT): Empty Bowls Performance for Advanced Band, Carson Mall, 5:30-6:00 PM
December 10: Marching Band Perfect Attendance Movie Party, 2:30-4:30 PM
December 12: Advanced Band Assembly Tour: Bordewich Bray Elementary, 10:00-10:30 AM
December 18: CMS Band Winter Concert, Carson City Community Center, 6-8:30 PM
December 19: Advanced Band Assembly Tour: Mark Twain Elementary, 8:45-9:15 AM; Fremont Elementary, 10:00-10:30 AM

Thank you!

-Mr. Jacques-

"Fun"raising

Dear Parents,

Chili Bingo Night began as a fundraiser that was put on by the PTA. 12 years ago, Mr. Blankenship, previous band director of CMS, needed a new marimba and partnered with the PTA to sell raffle tickets to pay for the instrument. Since then, this event has been handed exclusively to the band program and has become a massively profitable event, so much so that this year, it will be our only major fundraiser!  With how easy it is to sell tickets and how much fun the event is to attend, we should begin calling it a "fun"raiser. This year's goal is $10,000 in total profit, and we can easily exceed that with 100% class participation. Some students have sold so many raffle tickets that they've already paid off their entire spring trip!

Chili Bingo Night Meeting and Volunteer Signup
This amazing tradition would not thrive without the continued support from parents. We are looking for parent volunteers to work in shifts at the event.  Please sign up here.

We will also have a planning meeting for all parents on Tuesday, November 19, at 6:30 PM in the band room. We will go over every shift, discuss where we need additional help, and come up with a plan to make this the best Chili Bingo Night ever.

Chili Cook-off Entry Form
Do you have a delicious recipe for chili? If so, we want you to enter your tasty creation in our annual chili cook-off.  Click here to enter!  Cash prizes are available for the best taste, people's choice, and best name.

Ticket Selling Reminders
So far, we have made about $3,500 in presale ticket profits! Students have 1 more week to finish selling all their raffle tickets. Don't forget that each ticket needs to have the buyer's name, phone number, and item that they want to win. Students need to return the tickets and money to me by Thursday, November 21 and prizes are available to the top selling students in the band program.

Please share this flyer with everyone you know!

HONOR BAND
This year, I have over 50 students auditioning for Honor Band!  These students have been hard at work preparing an audition that will be recorded in my office at lunches and after school between now and the 18th. Advanced Band students are required to play the audition as a playing test (and can choose whether or not to submit their audition for a chance to be in the band). This is your student's final chance to practice (honor band music is uploaded in Smartmusic).  Honor Band results will be posted by November 27. 

GRADE NEWS
Last week, all students completed another week of practicing on Smartmusic and Beginning Band members completed a playing test on #40 (Technique Builder). This Friday, students need to complete at least 30 more minutes of recorded time on Smartmusic. No playing tests will be due this week or next week due to Honor Band auditions that are taking place. 

In addition to those graded assignments, students are all hard at work on their winter concert music. As of today, all students in all classes have all their pieces and they should be bringing home their band folders with these tunes each day. Even though this time isn't part of their weekly grade, it is important that they are working on this music.  Next week, I will introduce a video-based assignment that will test their skills when they're practicing these winter concert tunes. More on that next week.

Spring Trip Meeting
Is your student in Advanced Band or Jazz Band? If so, you and your student should plan to attend our Spring Trip informational meeting on Tuesday, November 19 at 6:00 PM in the band room. We will discuss all information relating to the trip and answer all your questions.

UPCOMING REHEARSALS and EVENTS
November 19: Marching Band Rehearsal, 2:30-4:30 (percussion until 6:00)
November 22: Chili Bingo Night, CMS Gym, 5-8 PM
November 26: Marching Band Rehearsal, 2:30-4:30 PM (Cancelled)
December 3: Marching Band Rehearsal, 2:30-4:30 PM
December 5: Advanced Band Assembly Tour: Fritsch Elementary, 10:00-10:30 AM
December 6: Advanced Band Silver & Snowflakes Performance, McFadden Plaza, 7-7:30 PM
December 7: Sparks Christmas Parade (Times TBA)
December 10: Marching Band Perfect Attendance Movie Party, 2:30-4:30 PM
December 12: Advanced Band Assembly Tour: Bordewich Bray Elementary, 10:00-10:30 AM
December 18: CMS Band Winter Concert, Carson City Community Center, 6-8:30 PM
December 19: Advanced Band Assembly Tour: Mark Twain Elementary, 8:45-9:15 AM; Fremont Elementary, 10:00-10:30 AM

That is it for this week!

-Mr. Jacques-

Chili Bingo Night

Dear Families,

The 11th Annual Family Chili Bingo Night is on Friday, November 22, at CMS. This is the biggest and most profitable fundraiser at CMS; in fact, it's so successful that it will be our only major fundraiser! 100% of profits go directly back into the band program at our school. A huge thanks goes out to some incredible parents, as well as businesses, who have donated time, goods, and services to make this event a huge hit each year.  This event consists of several parts:

RAFFLE DRAWING

On Friday, November 1, each student received an envelope with a prize list and 10-20 tickets, which students will be selling over the next 3 weeks.  With over 200 participating students this year, we have the potential to raiser well over $10,000 in just presale raffle tickets. Students may also come back for as many additional tickets as they like!  Here are the important facts that students must remember about selling these tickets:

• They MUST collect the money at the time of sale. Tickets are $1 each.
• 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 raffle is unique because you can choose which item you want to win.  This means that you only have a chance of winning items that you would want, and it increases your odds of winning. 

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 the 2nd-10th most tickets overall: Receive a gift certificate to one of these places: In N Out or Firehouse Subs.
• Sell the most tickets overall: Receive a $30 gift card to an area business of your choice!
• If each student in a class sells at least 10 tickets, they will all receive an in-class root beer float party on Friday, December 20

Tickets will be drawn at the event on November 22. Winners do not need to be present to win (but it's more fun when they are present).

CHILI COOKOFF

The chili cook-off is the tastiest part of the event. If you'd like to enter a chili, it's absolutely free, and you will have a chance of winning cash prizes for your creations. We ask that you make at least a crock-pot full so everyone can get a taste and have one person serve for at least the first hour of the event.  

At the event, the cost to taste is only $5 and you will get to vote on your favorite.  Winners are announced during the event.  Will you be our next winner? If you want to enter a chili, SIGN UP HERE!

BINGO GAMES

At the event, we will have bingo games for additional prizes. Bingo will take place at the event, and there are 12 rounds. Bingo cards are 1 dollar each. The Bingo winners will receive such prizes as restaurant gift certificates, hotel stays, pizza for a year, and more!

SNACK BAR

Along with delicious chili tasting, parents from Carson High School's band will have a snack bar with hot dogs, chips, candy, and sodas.  Bring the whole family and have dinner with us on November 22.

Our total fundraising goal is $14,000 to go towards student's band trips and replacement music stands.

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

-Mr. Jacques-