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Embrace Volunteer Opportunities

10/8/2018

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​We are off to a great start this season! It is exciting to see our show develop into an ever improving presentation. This is also the time we begin to see our students wear out. As the weeknights are spent at rehearsals and weekends become unavailable for anything but competitions, the enthusiasm begins to wane. Sleep refreshes them less as exhaustion and sickness attempts to grab for control. We encourage and try to help where we can, but competitive marching for Jenison is a commitment that many underestimate. It’s exhausting. It’s time consuming. It tests our student’s physical, mental, and emotional limits.
 
But it also tests ours – as parents. Parents new to marching band often underestimate the role they are anticipated to play. There are a lot of parents who expect marching band to have the biggest impact on their student and don’t understand the need for their participation in voluntary areas. When people are willing to support our band program as a volunteer, it has an amazing outcome. Every volunteer improves the quality of the band program. We are all receiving weekly emails that are informing us of areas of need. Below are descriptions of the areas of need…
 
Props
These positions are to help get the props ready for either rehearsal or a performance and to also take them back apart for storage. This is a great show of support for the band. There are three different dates with openings.
Link for 10/9 Rehearsal: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b0c49aeaa23a02-prop3
Link for 10/12 Football Game: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b0c49aeaa23a02-prop4
Link for 10/13 Invitational: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b0c49aeaa23a02-prop5
 
Jenison Football Games (Consessions)
The football game concession positions are very important to fill and as the temperature drops, these positions will keep you nice and warm. Our next home game is this Friday against the GR Union Red Hawks. They are currently 0-7. We need 9 people to fill these positions.
Link: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b0c49aeaa23a02-homecoming3
 
Grandville Invitational (Feed the Band)
Also this coming weekend is the Grandville Invitational. This is an awesome one to attend since it’s so close to home. Tickets are $8 for adults and $6 for students and senior citizens. Performances begin at 2:00 with the National Anthem. Class D/C awards will be presented at 5:00. Classes B/A/AA will begin performances at 6:15. You will want to be seated by then to ensure you get good seats. Jenison will perform at 8:00. Awards will be at 9:30. This day has some volunteer needs for Feed the Band. It will be a spaghetti dinner. There are a few food items that are still needed. At the time of this writing, these items include garlic bread, bag of salad, apples, cookies, plastic cups, and water.
Link: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b0c49aeaa23a02-feed34
 
Jenison Invitational
We are proud that this is one of the biggest and most liked invitationals in our state. It is only possible when we all come together to make it this way. It’s also important to understand that the majority of our budget comes from this one day. It reduces the cost of our fee by several hundred dollars. Talk about a good use of your time! I could talk and talk about the benefits to both our program and therefore our students, but I think you all already understand this. I can also talk just as long on the benefits to our volunteering parents. After having served on the Invitational Committee, we have a unique view of these benefits. Planning for and then holding this invitational is a ton of hard work for the committee. They really need and depend on our volunteers to make the plan transform into the magic that is our invitational. An illustration of this would be to watch any of the 44 bands that will perform on our field. After all of the planning by their directors and staff, if one band member doesn’t move to the right location at the right speed, a collision is sure to happen. This can be costly for the band. A similar thread of cooperation is needed to run an invitational of our quality. There are a lot of unfilled positions still. We are counting on your help to make it work.
 
Feed the Judges
One of the most pressing is for Feed the Judges. There are a few items still needed. As of this writing, they included meat/cheese platter, crock-pot of beef-BBQ, veggie tray with dip, a 9x13 dessert, crock-pot of chicken noodle soup, and a Caesar salad.
Link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b0c49aeaa23a02-2016
 
Spectator/Bus Parking
We still need a person to help with parking. This is very important because parking becomes extremely limited during the day. It is the calm direction of our volunteers that make it go much more smoothly for our guests.
Link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b0c49aeaa23a02-jenison5
 
Concessions
There are openings for concessions throughout the afternoon and evening. These are critical because the larger bands are here during these times. Being able to quickly serve our menu items will increase the amount of money we bring in.
Link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b0c49aeaa23a02-jenison5
 
Equipment Parking
Equipment parking is a little different than spectator/bus parking. There are still a few openings here. This location is usually between the JCA and the high school.
Link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b0c49aeaa23a02-jenison5
 
Thank you for reading this far! Overall, we are doing pretty well for filling these slots, but I think it would be super exciting if we could fill them all! I encourage you to encourage one another to fill a need and help make this invitational the special thing that it is!

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    Jenison Public Schools
    Jenison, MI 49428

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    ​ Blog Author:

    Kate Cummings-Ackerman


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