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This Week In Band (TWIB) Archives
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This page contains past TWIB's by Dr. Kiene

August 20, 2018

 

This week we will have regular practice scheduled (Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 3-5:30).

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No game this weekend, so have a wonderful restful Friday night.

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Please make sure to check the google classrooms for your assignments and make sure that you are keeping up with graded assignments due.

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Wonderful job Friday night at Grovetown! Great performance, and even better actions representing the school and the band. Way to go!

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Keep up the great work!

April 23, 2018

 

Hello, Wildcats!

 

Our trip to Six Flags over Georgia was a blast! Thank you to all of the parent volunteers who helped make the trip a smooth one.

 

We had a great leadership camp last week and we were pleased to have so many students in attendance.  It was great hearing all of your ideas and we look forward to the leadership interviews (date TBA).

 

Color guard auditions continue this week. 8th graders will audition on Thursday, April 26th and everyone else will audition on Friday, April 27th. Good luck!

 

Drum major tryouts begin this week with auditions on Friday, April 27th. We are looking forward to seeing your potential!

 

Percussion camp is this week  with instrument placements on Thursday, April 26th.

 

GO BAND!

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April 13, 2018

 

Hello, Wildcats!

 

Leadership camp is this week from 3pm to 4 pm. Please be on time and be ready to discuss and share leadership ideas.

 

Color guard tryouts also begin this week and are from 4 pm to 5:30 pm. Please be on time

 

Our spring trip to Six Flags over Georgia is this Saturday.  The attire for the trip is  your band t-shirt, khaki shorts, and athletic shoes. The weather for Saturday is supposed to be partly cloudy with a high of 72 degrees and a low of 54 degrees. Please bring a jacket for the evening. You will receive ONE meal voucher, but you will need to bring extra money for other meals. Please do not bring a lot of extra baggage for the bus as space is limited.

 

Thank you to all the parents who volunteered to help us for this trip.

 

 

Have a great week, everyone, and GO BAND!

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September 17, 2017

 

Hello Everyone !

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There are many important items in this week's TWIB! We are officially into our busy season and things will move fast and furious until the first week of November. Please make sure you are checking the website, receiving emails and remind texts to stay up to date. Here we go:

 

Practices this week are normal M, T, TH 3-5:30. We are covering TONS of new information, so students MUST be in attendance. Please help your child to honor their commitment. We will be learning the drill for the closer and beginning to add visuals and clean the existing drill as well as working musical areas with the full band. Attendance is the only way to keep up.

 

Friday we play Lakeside at home. Call is 6:00PM to dress and warm up. This is also FUTURE WILDCAT NIGHT! We are going to be joined by our awesome 8th graders in the stands. Please do all you can to make them feel welcomed! Additionally, we will be having Childhood Cancer Awareness night. Fundraising efforts will be in action at the game. Please look for info on this and help if you can.

 

Saturday is the TOUR DE FORD! This is our largest single fundraiser this year and will require the performance of nearly every student in the organization. We will be fielding 6 ensembles throughout Ford Plantation to cheer on the runners and to give out medals at the end. This event will have a 6 AM call at the band room and should be over by roughly noon! This is a HUGE event for us! Please help us make it all it can be.

 

HEADS UP! Next Saturday is the MARCH A THON! It is our most important day of practice of the season. We will be working with clinicians to polish our competition show all day from 12-8. This year our main clinician is Mr. Stephen Hendrix! He is one of the founders of Counter Motion Inc. (the company that writes many of the most successful marching shows in the South East). He is a veteran of the DCI corps and a graduate of UGA. We are delighted to host him and I know that he will give us invaluable information as we prepare to begin competing. It goes without saying that this event is an expectation of all marching wildcat members! Please make plans to have your student in attendance barring major emergency or illness. 

 

This season has been a tough one with heat, lightening, and hurricanes keeping us off the field, but the kids and volunteers have been working incredibly hard  and professionally to make sure we are performing at the top of our ability no matter what the weather throws at us! This is what makes your kids so special! They don't make excuses, they just work that much harder. It is my honor to work with such great families! Have a great week!

July 14, 2017

 

Hello Wildcats!

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Exciting times begin Monday morning at 8 AM! I am writing to give you a few very quick reminders to prepare for the first day of camp.

These will be brief, but very important.

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  1. Be on time! We start at 8, you should already be on campus, in the band room, seated on the floor in sections at that time. Your section leaders will be there to guide you.

  2. Dress appropriately! The practice uniform has been defined multiple times. Don't forget athletic shoes, sunblock, insect repellent, correct color of shirt, and appropriate length shorts.

  3. WATER JUG FILLED WITH COOL WATER! This is not negotiable. Students without will not be allowed to participate until they have their filled jug. Insulated, minimum half gallon. NO CLEAR WATER BOTTLES, NO MILK JUGS, NO DISPOSABLE WATER BOTTLES. This is one of our two top requirements.

  4. MEDICAL FORM SIGNED AND FILLED OUT. We must have these in order to participate. Students won't be able to participate without these in place on Monday.

  5. Bring your instrument, and be flexible and adaptable as we set instrumentation and get ready to put our competition show on the field.

  6. LUNCH! Bring a complete, filling, nutritious lunch to camp. You will work up an appetite.  We do not have a refrigerator available, so please bring food that will keep throughout the morning. 

  7. Breakfast! Eat a good one before you arrive! Avoid dairy as it will make you sick.

  8. Come with a GREAT ATTITUDE! We have an incredible program, with a rich history of success, friendship and fun. We will work HARD! But we will have a great time and you will become an important part of the history of the Marching Wildcats!

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We are going to have a great season bringing our "MUMMIFIED!!!" show to the field! We are the largest we have ever been with amazing students and staff. Its going to be a great year to be a Wildcat!

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Looking forward to seeing you!

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Dr. Danny Kiene

May 19, 2017

 

2017 Marching Band Information

 

By:  Dr. Kiene

 

I am writing to make sure that you have all of the information you need to transition to the high school band program. We are super excited to welcome you to our high school band family! There are many things to know and consider and I hope to address as many of them as possible in this email, but let me begin by saying that I am available to answer your questions and look forward to getting to know each of you. So…here we go:

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Band classes are available and should be registered for both semesters for all band students. They are brass, woodwind and percussion and they are divided as listed, brass players sign up for brass etc. If you are not signed up, this CAN be corrected. Please contact the high school (459-5151) and ask how to request a schedule change. It is a simple process and can be done.

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We ask, and highly recommend, all rising student participate in the marching band. There are so many misconceptions about the amount of time required, experience required and other issues that I will address throughout this email, but please begin by understanding that the default mode is that students will march.

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The reason behind the default marching situation is that it is a fantastic, successful high quality organization that gives the students the most likelihood of success not only in band, but in high school. The students will make friends of all ages before school even starts, they will learn discipline, self-reliance, gain physical strength and control of their movement, associate with the best of the best students that attend RHHS, gain awareness of the high school environment and physical layout of the school, meet faculty early, and gain a support system that is not matched by anything in the school. Additionally, they will gain tremendous skill on their instrument in a very short amount of time, and learn to work within an organization with fantastic, supportive peer leadership. There is no negative side to marching band. But….

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Let’s deal with the “but”s. Marching band does have a practice schedule. The misconception is that it takes too much time. The truth is that we rehearse three days a week right after school until 5:30. We do not go past 5:30. Ever. It is my philosophy that students need time to do homework, have family time and not over do any activity. Games are Friday nights and competitions are Saturdays (likely 3 in October or early November). Band takes less time than many sports teams, but has incredible success because we utilize our time professionally and economically.

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“Band is too expensive”. Our fees are among the lowest in the state and about 1/3 of the fees of comparable bands. They are a total of $345 payable in multiple payments. Our boosters will work with you to set up payments as needed, and no child will be denied marching band due to an inability to pay. We can work out extended payments and have some scholarships available. The only other expense is shoes ($30) and any additional band t shirts you wish to buy (two are included with your fees). The fees cover world class instructors for sections and guard, food for some of the away games, and assists in covering the band banquet and supporting the day to day running of the organization. We are excellent stewards of the limited funds and we make miracles happen with the money we take in. You will get much more than $345 worth of value from marching band.

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“My child doesn’t know how to march or is a weak player”. The expectation is that they DO NOT come in knowing how to march. We teach them everything they need to know and prefer to start with a clean slate. We want them to come in ready to learn with no previous knowledge of marching. We also utilize peer leadership in section leaders to work with the students on their playing skills, so your child will improve on their instrument.

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The main reasons students don’t march are fear of the unknown, bad peer advice (parents suffer from this one sometimes as well) , and misinformation. Once students begin marching band, they generally love it and we lose very few once they start. We will be marching more than 200 students this year most of which are AP, HONORS, NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY, BETA and all other successful students. Band breeds this success. The band has won 16 GRAND CHAMPIONSHIPS in the last 10 years. This is unheard of, but it speaks to the awesomeness of the kids in the program and their desire to succeed and yes, it spills over into all of their classes and life. I can’t count the number of students that have gained scholarships from band , or wrote their college entrance essays about how band and band leadership helped them to succeed outside of the classroom! Do your child a favor and help them have this experience. Peers will tell students (and some parents) that band is not for the smart kids, or again it takes too much time, or its not cool, etc. Again, we have nearly all of the AP students in the school in our marching band. We have over 200 of the best and brightest. If band wasn’t a key to high school success, why would so many smart parents put their kids in the program and work so hard to volunteer and support the organization. It is the winningest, largest, and one of the most successful programs on the high school campus.

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From here, I would ask you to go to www.richmondhillhighschoolband.org and check us out. Register there for your child to become a part of this amazing group and I look forward to your questions and comments. Band camp starts July 17th and runs for two weeks from 8:00-4:30 on the high school campus. Please register right away so that we know to hold your spot in the drill.

 

Thanks for taking the time to read this long, but extremely important email!

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Musically,

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Dr. Danny Kiene

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