Here are the weekly updates and announcements for the week. Please be sure to read through everything carefully and make a note of deadline dates as well as rehearsal and performance dates.
- Friday, November 6 – Deadline to submit Region Band and All-State Jazz registration information. Please be sure to see Mr. Yost if you did not submit your name.
- Friday, November 6 – Last day to turn in fruit orders. Please place the order forms and payment in the fruit envelopes. Be sure to write the student’s name on the envelope and seal it before it is placed in the purple box. Please make checks payable to NHS Band Boosters. Again, please be sure to contact Mr. Yost as soon as possible if you have orders that were not submitted.
- Monday, November 9 – Last day to submit missed assignments!!!!
- Tuesday, November 10 – Rehearsal at school from 6:00 to 8:00. This is a very important rehearsal as we are going to learn the routine we will videotape to submit to CN2 for inclusion in the City of Rock Hill Virtual Christmas Parade!
- Friday, November 13 – Playoff game at District 3 Stadium. We will perform the Christmas routine at halftime of this game. Ticket information will be forwarded as soon as it is available.
Please remember that we will have home games every Friday night until we are defeated. Be sure to pencil in possible games on November 20 and 27 as we will perform if the team is playing at D3 and yes, that also includes the day after Thanksgiving. In the event we do play on the 27th, I will ask that parents contact me if you are out of town and your child won’t be able to attend. Your child will be excused. If you are in town, I ask that you please have your child in attendance for the game. As always, if there are questions, please be sure to contact me.
If you did not order an Olde English t-shirt and would still like one, please contact Pam Bilton to place an order. She will place a second order soon.
The booster club is also creating an Olde English program again this year and parents are encouraged to purchase ads to celebrate their child in the program. Look for a message from the booster club with additional information!
Other general announcements:
- Please encourage your child to practice every day and remind them to be sure they have submitted their attendance checks and assignments they have for their virtual learning days.
- Region and All-State Band auditions will be held virtually this year through video recording submissions which must be downloaded no later than Friday, January 9th. However, in order to submit a recording, the students must be registered. Students must submit the registration form by the end of the day on Friday, October 30. The form was emailed to all students on Monday. The registration fee is $12.00 and can be paid with BCP’s, check – payable to NHS Bands, and cash. Audition material is available for students to pick up in the band room. The same information and dates also apply for the all-state jazz band auditions.
- Students are reminded to please pay for the folios and lyres they received back in August. See Mr. Yost or Ms. Carlson if you don’t remember the amount you owe.
Lastly, I do want to confirm that we did have two students that tested positive for COVID last week and another student this week. The school and district health care administrators were notified and they determined the close contacts and required the daily screening which is mandatory when any student was present at school, or involved in a school event, within 48 hours of exhibiting symptoms. Those screenings will continue through Tuesday, 11/17 and the B day students will need to be screened when they arrive for rehearsal Tuesday evening.
I have talked at great length with Nurse Whitesell here at Northwestern, as well as Nurse Kirell with the district, and they were both comfortable with the protocols we have in place and feel they may have helped to prevent further spread within the group. We continue to stress to students the importance of wearing a mask when they are not playing in rehearsals and to always be mindful of distancing as we move about in rehearsals. With all the activities students are in we never know who may be infected so we must continue to be as cautious as possible. Mr. Massey has also asked that I remind you that if your child is not feeling well, please be sure to keep them home and notify me, or the school, as soon as possible. Likewise, if your child has been in close contact with someone that suspects they might be positive, please keep your child home until the test results are confirmed. I greatly appreciate how well the students have done to this point with the protocols and I am confident we can continue to work together to keep our families and our community as safe as possible. Thank you for your continued support and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.
Mark S. Yost
Director of Bands
Northwestern High School
