A few notes about mini camp...
​1.  Don't forget to bring:  LOTS of WATER, sunscreen, chapstick, hat, sunglasses, running/athletic shoes, and wear  lightweight and comfortable clothing. 
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2.  We are feeding the band dinner each night of mini camp.  We are still in need of lots of food donations.  Check out the sign-up genius links below.
Feed the Band - Monday
http://jenisonbands.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f4bffacd7e8dc5d30268902c9&id=422fefd99b&e=9709f73d5e
Feed the Band - Tuesday
http://jenisonbands.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f4bffacd7e8dc5d30268902c9&id=428c8ed763&e=9709f73d5e

3. SCRIP ​- On Tuesday, June 21 (mini-camp date) there will be a SCRIP open house from 2-4pm and 7-9pm in the JHS Triple Conference Room.  This is the room off the media center at the HS.  Come get your questions answered, sign up, and get started with some instant SCRIP purchases.  You can also sign up for Presto Pay so that you can order from anywhere online.  Remember you can drop off/pick up SCRIP orders almost every Monday night from 6-8pm even throughout the summer.

4.  Mini Camp finishes at 9pm...but this means the kids finish practicing at 9pm.  They must then put away instruments and such before they are ready to go.  So if you come to pick them up right at 9pm, be prepared to wait a few extra minutes...and be patient with them, they are going to be REALLY tired. 

Let's get this out there early...the marching band season is BUSY with lots of rehearsals at the start, then on to invitationals and football games, and even more rehearsals.  Since the students are in high school now it's time for them to learn responsibility and those lovely informative emails from Mrs. Gembis are about to stop (it's OK to mourn this for a moment if needed).  Your son or daughter is growing up.  Contrary to what you might think, the band directors are communicating with the students.  They are given lots of important information which may or may not ever make it back to you.  However, if you are reading this then you've taken a step toward finding information for yourself (good call).  So here's my breakdown of the communication tools you can seek out for the season.  Use what works for you and simply ignore the rest. 

​By far the best place to get information is the band website.   www.jenisonbands.org  On this site you can find tons of information including:
News - This tab gives detailed itineraries for all band events (invitationals, parades, uniform fittings, special events...etc) which are posted about 5-7 days in advance.
Calendar - All of the summer rehearsals, mini-camp, pre-camp, post-camp, home football games, invitational dates, etc are already posted on this calendar
Resources - Use the resources tab to find out how many credits your student has in his/her account, make a band payment, or get information about the fundraisers run by the band boosters
​You can also find contact information and link to sites such as sign-up genius and the amazing parent blog ; )

​In addition to the band website, Jenison Bands can be found on Facebook (Jenison Bands) and Twitter (@Jenisonbands).  These social media sites are used to post reminders, not to be your main source of information.

​Sign-up Genius will be important to those of you who want to get your 10 points.  You can start here www.signupgenius.com and search using this email [email protected] if you are looking to help out and earn points.  If you want to make $$$ (but not earn points) by helping with VanAndel Concessions search using this email [email protected].

​One final way to get communication is through this blog.  The blog was started last year after I felt like I fumbled my way through my first year as a marching band parent.  It was created primarily for new marching band parents, not to be used as a primary source of information, but rather as a place to check out for the insider information...the tips and tricks if you will.  So check back as events approach as I try to update the blog at least once a week once the season gets going.  In addition to tips and tricks, I also love to post pictures of the season that I find on social media or photo share sites.

​I think I can assume that if you have read to the end of this post you are planning to be actively involved in this thing called marching band.  This makes me happy.  Get involved and I promise you won't be disappointed!