December 2019

Upcoming Events:

• December TBD: Advanced Band/Choir/Guitar Concert Tour
• December 19th: School Assembly Performance for ALL Musicians
• December 19th: Winter Concert for ALL Musicians
• December 23rd-January 6th: Winter Break
• January 10th & 11th: Cap Section Honor Band (Audition or Invitation required)
• January 14th: Dos Coyotes Fundraiser Night
• January 15th: IB Information Night for Band and Choir
• January 23rd-25th: Honor Choir
• January 28th: Disneyland Pre-Trip Meeting

Winter Concert - December 19th @ 7pm **REQUIRED** for all musicians

The Winter Concert is Thursday, December 19th. ALL Eich Music students are required to attend. We will be performing in the Eich Gym at 7:00pm. Musicians will need to arrive no later than 6:40pm. Doors to the Gym will open at 6:30pm. 

We will be wearing our Eich polo shirts. If you did not purchase an Eich Polo shirt, please wear a solid blue, white, or black shirt.

Admission to the concert is free and we will be accepting donations at the door. We will also be offering a limited number of reserved seats. An email with more info and the order form will be sent out next week. 

Who: All Eich Musicians

What: Winter Concert

Where: Eich Gym

Wear: Eich Polo shirts (or sold blue/white/black shirt), black pants/skirt, black shoes

When: Thursday, December 19th

• 6:30pm Doors Open
• 6:40pm All musicians arrive no later than
• 7:00pm Concert Begins

Why: A performance celebrating our progress!

Polo Shirts and 2nd Order opportunity

All polo shirts have been handed out to students. 

If you have not paid for your polo please send in cash or check made out to "Eich Middle School" as soon as possible

Polo $20

Polo w/student name $25

If you did not place an order but would like a polo shirt, I will be placing a 2nd order soon. You can fill out the order form here:

2nd Chance Polo Order Form

Orders will close Friday, December 6th

**I cannot guarantee that shirts will arrive in time for the Winter Concert. We will continue to wear these polos for all performances**

**If you are performing in Disneyland you must have an Eich polo!**

Fundraising Updates

Thank you to everyone who supported our two dining out nights by eating in, taking out, and sharing our social media posts! 

We raised:

Panera = $202

Rubio's = $187

Our next Fundraiser Night is coming up on Tuesday, January 14th at Dos Coyotes!

Woodbridge Giving Tree - Sponsor a child

This year Ecih Teachers along with their first period classes have each chosen a child to sponsor for the holiday season. If you would like to donate an item for our child, please send it in by Wednesday, December 11th

Here are the details for our child:

6 yr female. 

Shoe Size: 2

Shirt & Pant Size: 7/8

Wants: "JoJo" SIWA bows, favorite color pink and blue

Needs: socks or underwear

Performance Tour - Advanced Band, Choir, Guitar POSTPONED

We are working on scheduling a performance at the District Office. The date is currently being worked out. I will update you when we have details finalized.

Disneyland Payment Reminders - Advanced/Intermediate Band, Choir

You should have a minimum of $300 paid towards your trip. Payments can be sent in anytime. :)

Upcoming Payment Due Dates:

January 20th - $100 due (Total paid $400)

February 20th  - $100 due Final Due date (Total paid $500)

Disneyland Pre-Trip Meeting - Tuesday, January 28th

There will be a mandatory meeting for the Disneyland trip at 6:45pm in the music room on Tuesday, January 28th. All students attending the trip must attend with a parent/guardian. We will review the final details and schedule of the trip as well as go over behavior expectations. 
Students and a parent/guardian will sign a behavior contract at the meeting. 

Honor Choir - Applications due Thursday

Honor choir is a chance to rehearse and perform with the top singers across the Sacramento region. If you would like to participate, please fill out the contract and return with $35 participation fee by this Thursday. 
Honor Choir Contract

October 2019

Grades

Grades have been updated in Power School for your student's mid-trimester progress report. At this point in the year we have been mainly focusing on Criteria B: Developing Skills. As we progress into the second half of the trimester you will start to see assignments in Criteria A: Knowing and Understanding as well as Criteria D: Responding. More info on our upcoming large project is below. Most students are currently performing in the "Proficient" or "Approaching" range. And that is ok, especially for our 1st year musicians. Most techniques will be practiced all year long with the goal of getting to "Proficient" or "Mastery" by the Spring Concert.
It is rare to have "Mastery" markings this early. Although, our more advanced players may be receiving those high marks already.

Learning Behaviors:
Engagement =  Preparation and participation in rehearsal. 
Utilizes Feedback and Resources = Response to rubric comments/suggestions, asking for help outside of class *All students were set to "sometimes" at this point since it is still early in the year. 
Work Completion = Completion of the weekly Practice Record in planner

Practice Records

Practice records are due every Monday and count towards the "Work Completion" Learning Behavior. Students are required to practice a minimum of 60 minutes per week and keep track of their practice minutes in their school planners. At the end of the week (Sunday) they are to total up their minutes and have a parent initial the planner page. 

60+ minutes = C (Consistently)

<60 minutes = S (Sometimes)

0 minutes or no planner = Rarely

Upcoming Performances - Detailed info each performance is below

October 2nd: Choir Concert @ Oakmont HS Concert - 7:00pm in the OHS Theater


October 4th: Drumline  @ Rally - 2:00pm in the Gym

October 11th: Advanced/Intermediate Bands @ Oakmont Football Game - TBD OHS

December 19th: EVERYONE @ Winter Concert - 7:00pm in the Eich Gym

Cut Time

The best way to stay informed on your student's account balance is through CutTime. Parents can apply for an account and then link to your student to see payments that are owed as well as credits/payments that have been made. 

Click here to go directly to the account creation page. 

If you already have a CutTime account you can link your students account by following these easy steps:

1) Log in here

2) In the "My Student" section click the blue button to "Add a Student/Member"

3) Complete the form for your student's first/last name and birthday

4) Hit "save"

Polo Shirt $$ Due Friday

If you ordered a music department polo shirt your payment is due no later than this Friday, October 4th. Please make checks payable to "Eich Middle School" 
Polo shirts were either $20 or $25 if you added your name.

Beginning Band students got to practice their conducting skills on the podium

Department Donations 

We are still accepting donations for the Music Department. Your donations go towards purchasing new music, instrument replacements and repairs, performance costs, supplies etc.for ALL of our music classes. 
The suggested donation is $25
We will not be having any department fundraisers this year, only trip fundraisers

Jamba Juice Card Fundraiser - Disneyland Participants

Our next Disneyland trip fundraiser will be selling Jamba Juice cards. The cards sell for $10 each and $4 from each sale will go towards your trip. If you would like to reserve cards to sell, please fill out the form below. We will hand out cards in class beginning later this week. All money and unsold cards must be returned by October 25th.

Jamba Order Form

Choir Concert Flyer for October 2nd. Everyone is invited to attend!

Choir @ Oakmont: October 2nd

Twice a year we combine with the Oakmont Music Department for a collaboration concert. It is a great opportunity for our kids to hear a high school level group and make connections with the director and kids at Oakmont. My hope is that it will make the transition into high school just bit easier when the time comes. 


Who: All Choir members
What: Combined Concert with Oakmont Choir
Where: Oakmont HS Theater 
Wear: Our polo shirts will not be delivered before this performance so we will wear nice, dressy style, clothes that are school appropriate. 

Call Time: Choir members will meet in the theater @ 5:20pm for a rehearsal
Concert: Begins at 7:00pm, doors open at 6:30pm
See the flyer above for more details!

Advanced/Intermediate Band @ Oakmont Football: October 11th

The Oakmont HS band has invited up to perform with them! Students will get to rehearse with the band and then march over to the football stadium. The first half of the game they will play from the stands. At halftime the Oakmont Band will be performing their competition field show. After halftime, musicians may choose to leave or stay and play for the remainder of the game.
Please note, I cannot attend this performance due to an out-of-town wedding. If your musician wants to participate a parent will also need to attend the football game.

Timeline for the event TBD

Honor Groups - Honor Band and Honor Choir

Every year in January the top musicians in our area gather for an Honor Band and Honor Choir. Eich musicians have the option to potentially participate in one of these groups.


6th Grade Honor Band - January 11th 

• No audition is required for 6th grade Honor Band
• Musicians are nominated by their director
• I will choose students who are making exceptional progress on their instruments

7th/8th Grade Honor Band - January 10th and 11th

• Honor Band requires a recorded  audition on your instrument. 
• Audio files are due to Mrs. Aldridge by Friday, November 15th. This is a hard deadline and no recordings can be accepted after this time. 
• If you would like help making your recording or with learning the music you may make an after-school appointment with Mrs. Aldridge. 
• Do not wait until the last minute to practice or record your audition
• Audition music is available from Mrs. Aldridge. You can also see the requirements here CAPSectionHonorBand 

Honor Choir - January 23rd-25th (Thursday evening, Friday/Saturday all day)

• No audition required
• Singers are nominated by their director
• I must nominate students in groups of 3 (SSA) and I can send as many well-prepared groups as we can fill.