Dear Parents & Students,
Many thanks to all of you who attended the district concert last Monday on a warm night in the VHS gym! Our orchestra did a great job and it was fun to hear the progress from elementary school through high school. As we quickly head toward the conclusion of this school year, here are some important reminders:
Our end-of-the-year concert and banquet is coming up on Sunday, June 8th at 5:30 p.m. If you have not yet ordered tickets, please do so as soon as possible. The banquet is mandatory for all students while family and friends are strongly encouraged to come. The deadline to get tickets ($15 per person) is next Friday, May 30th.
Students with a last name beginning with N-Z have been asked to contribute drinks and other items the banquet. You can begin bringing your donations in to the orchestra room any time now. Please be sure your name is on them so we can enter you in our drawing for pair of movie tickets.
We would love to have a display of photos from this year’s concerts at the banquet. Next year we need to recruit and official photographer for our events, but for now, if you have some pictures you can contribute to this display (or would even be willing to put together a simple display for us), please let us know. Your help in this would be greatly appreciated.
As you may have heard, due to budget cuts, our school board plans to cut the 4th grade strings program beginning next year. Because there has been so little response from parents, they have decided to make this cut permanent instead of temporary. This cut would impact middle school and high school orchestras for years to come (not to mention how it affects elementary students). Most likely, all of us have benefited from having our students in a 4th grade strings class and could confidently speak to the school board about how valuable it was in getting our kids started. We are urging, begging, pleading with orchestra parents and students to attend the school board meeting next Tuesday night, May 27th. If you feel comfortable speaking to the board that would be wonderful, but we also need to have as many people there as possible to support the program even if you choose not to speak. Please let us know if you can come!
Thanks again for your help and support! Our orchestra program can not reach its potential without YOU!
With appreciation,
Paula Parker & Christina Mueller