Hello there eagle family! This is the week of October the 17th, and for the week after UIL, we do have a couple of things to go over.
UIL Region Marching Contest Results: Speaking of which, The Atascocita High School Military Marching Band travelled to their UIL regional marching contest last Saturday. There, they earned a Division 1 rating at UIL Regional Marching Contest and have advanced to UIL Area Open Class playoff marching competition for a chance to compete at open class state contest. The AHS band has earned their 15th Division 1 in their school's history, and they earned 1 ratings from all three judges. This is the highest accomplishment a marching band can earn at the region level. All three judges unanimously circled the plusses+ on the rubric for music, visual, and content. The students' hard work has paid off, and the directors could not be any more happier and more proud of our students. Our students showed up, went all in, and the left it all on the field with no regrets. Thats the #championshipmindset - show up, all in, no regrets. Way to go band family! Rehearsals This Week: As for this week's rehearsal schedule, the students have been given Monday off. We will reconnect on Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday with regularly planned scheduled rehearsals starting at 3:45. These next two weeks will be dedicated to perfecting and cleaning what we have in preparation for UIL Area marching contest. Friday Football: This coming Friday is an away football game against C.E King High School. And itinerary of the schedule will be going out soon. Just look for it to be similar to a Turner stadium game, since the CE King Sheldon stadium is pretty close to our high school. This Saturday we have no events for the band. TMEA Region Orchestra Auditions: Sign up deadline is this Monday at 11:59PM. That contest is going to be on Monday October 31st. And more information will follow soon as the time draws closer. Area Marching Contest: The band has advanced to UIL Area marching band contest, which is held on October 29th Saturday. We know that it will be a morning performance, so once we have more information and all bands in all regions in our area have received their ratings, we will send out an itinerary of the day. This day will be the whole day, so please have planned to block off the entire day for our performances. That’s all for this week! Congratulations to all of our very hard-working high school band members, and we will see you on the next one!
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Good morning, here is this week’s update for October 10th, 2022. And it’s a really busy week! We have finally made it to UIL week, and our biggest contest of the year is this Saturday. We will go over everything you need to know.
Rehearsals: this week we have rehearsals a little differently since we have a Thursday football game. Because this is the week of UIL, the directors are strongly encouraging every single student in the program to be at all rehearsals this week. We are unable to march empty spots at UIL, and all performance spots must be filled for the contest. The rehearsal schedule this week is:
On Monday, we need all performing starters AND alternates to come to rehearsal this Monday to determine who will be marching at the UIL contest this Saturday. If you have been talked to about eligibility, your marching spot has already been reassigned. We strongly encourage you to go attend tutorials with the teacher you failed a course with. Spots for this week’s contest will depend on prior attendance, drill knowledge, and performance aptitude. Football Game Thursday: This Thursday is our game at Turner stadium against Humble High School, and… it’s 8th Grade Night!!! Our incoming 8th graders will be joining us in the stands, and it is our job to show them how much fun we have in the stands for football games and to give them the example of what our marching band culture looks like. The purpose is to encourage our 8th graders to love our program and get excited and super hyped about becoming a 9th grade band member. We will talk more about this over the week in class. An itinerary will be going out soon (expect it to be very similar to every home game we’ve had so far). Saturday Contest: As I mentioned earlier, UIL is our biggest contest of the year, as it determines whether or not we advance to the next round. The objective is to receive a 1st Division rating, which is what is required for bands to advance to the next level. It will require all members to focus on their best performance, and for that reason is why we need absolutely 100% perfect attendance at rehearsals this week. An itinerary will be going out soon (expect it to be very similar to the Galena Park marching contest schedule two weeks ago). Disney Trip, TMF and Widdyup Fundraiser: If you raised funds for the Disney trip through Widdyup, those funds will be transferred into your individual trip accounts sometime soon. We will discuss more as time goes on. We will be scheduling a Disney trip planning meeting very soon with all of our trip goers and parents. When the time is scheduled, we will notify everyone. We will go over all the required details such as trip handbook, park rules and regulations, required contracts, and much more. It’s almost time!!! That’s all we have for this week. Once we get past UIL, we will get more out there. In the meantime, let’s use this week to focus on having the greatest performance we’ve had yet. We are reaching the last stretch to the end, so let’s keep working together! We can do this, and we will do it together. Have a great week everyone, and I’ll see you at rehearsals! Greetings Eagles! This is your update for the week of October 3, 2022.
It is our week off from school, but as you guys know that this week, the cheerleaders are out there practicing, the band is practicing, the football team is out there right now practicing. We have a game Friday and a Saturday festival performance. For some groups, the work keeps going, and we are one of those groups! I will be in the office this week as my contract is extended. If you need direct access, you can always call the office number at 281-641-7742 and that goes directly to the band office. Sending an email to rxbest@humbleisd.net is also a good bet as well. Let’s go over the big items now: This week’s rehearsal schedule: We do have practice, but the good news is that there is no school in the morning, so you can rest up and relax until it’s rehearsal time. This week is adjusted slightly - Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday all starting at 5PM, and Tuesday and Wednesday go to 8PM, and Thursday ends at 7PM. Go to www.atascocitaband.com and click on Calendar, as the times are now live. If you are an alternate or were previously ineligible but anticipate regaining eligibility, we need you to come to rehearsal this week so that you can be assigned a spot on the field. October 7th Friday Game: is an away game again, and it’s at the same stadium as last week - Beaumont Memorial. We will be playing Beaumont United. The schedule for this game will be very similar to the schedule of last week. Be sure to read the itinerary posted on the website for that, and it is also sent out on the BAND app as well. October 8th Saturday Contest: this one is early, but it is super short - done before lunch time! It’s here at Turner stadium, and the itinerary for that contest is going to be posted on the website and BAND app as well. Be sure to watch for that schedule when it posts this week. That wraps it up for this week! I look forward to seeing everyone at rehearsal this week, and let’s keep working to improve our performance for the next few contests to come. Greetings Eagle Family! The time has come for the Atascocita High School Military Marching Band to GO TO CONTEST!!! We have several things going on this week, so I’ll start at the top:
REHEARSALS: Monday through Thursday, all starting at 3:45. Monday is a shortened day to not extend past 8 hour rule for our program. We have one more drill move to learn, and the whole entire show will be fully completed! GRADES END FRIDAY: On Friday, teachers will give out their last assignments and tests, and students will have this LAST AND FINAL WEEK to get all of the grades done. It is another chance to lose your eligibility. Please make sure that you are actively attending your tutorial sessions and turning in work. Zeros will completely destroy your grade, and then in turn, hurt our team. FRIDAY GAME: This Friday, we will be playing an AWAY game in Beaumont against West Brook HS. The band will have charter busses at this game given the distance to travel and the time that we will need to depart. The directors are still working out itinerary details, so one will be provided to the students over the week. SATURDAY CONTEST: The itinerary and other parent information has been sent out already for the Galena Park ISD marching band contest happening this week. We are super excited to finally show off our kids in a competitive light. Since the away game will be a long day and then we are right back up to the school the next day, I have decided that we will not stay for the duration of the contest and get our kids back home as quickly as possible. Make sure to stay connected to the BAND app for more information as it is made available. Also, parents, please fully read the BAND app note that was sent out explaining how you can help support our kids at the contest this Saturday. Your support would go a long way with helping increase our scores, and it can actually help us rank higher. NEXT WEEK REHEARSAL SCHEDULE: There is no school, but like football, cheerleading, ROTC, and all the other organizations on campus, we still have practice to prepare for our game and contest that week. However, we have made a slight adjustment to the schedule to give the kids more time off and an easier work-around for parents who work. Next week’s schedule will be:
That’s all for this week’s update! If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to us at any time. Greetings, Eagle Family! It’s the week of September 19th! Another busy week of band! Let’s go over the big items now.
Percussion Contest Results: this year, the Atascocita High School band drumline and percussion section traveled to the Aldine ISD Percussion Contest and Clinic. There were over 20 ensembles from various schools in Houston in attendance. This was the band’s first time in school history to attend a percussion competition, and there they tied for 5th place. We are very excited for the hard work that the kids put into their performance, and we are super thankful for our guest clinician Lamar Burkhalter who comes in weekly and works with them. We are proud of our percussionists! Football Game Friday: It’s a home game! In fact… it’s our HOMECOMING! The itinerary will be similar to all other home games, except our performance will be at the end of the football game instead of at half-time. Our half-time will be dedicated to homecoming court festivities. At the end of the game, we have been given permission to use the field for additional time again by our amazing athletic directors in administration, so we anticipate that we will take extra time after the performance to run through a few sections before we go home. This time on the field is some of the most valuable time we have as a team, so we are going to definitely do that. Monday Rehearsals: That starts today, and we will go from 3:45 to 5:15. It’s a shortened rehearsal from all of the other days to stay in compliance with UIL’s eight-hour rule in which marching bands do not exceed 8 hours of practice time in a week. These Mondays are to make up for the many hours lost in the beginning of the year due to lightning strikes, and the directors and leadership team believe that we will catch up to where we need to be with these rehearsals. First Contest: Our first marching band contest is in TWO WEEKS! Next Saturday, October 1st, the Atascocita High School band will travel to Galena Park ISD for their annual marching festival. Our performance time is in the afternoon, and we are currently working on an itinerary to give out to parents. We anticipate that we will be arriving at the school in the morning to do a rehearsal run through, do lunch at the school before we leave, perform there, and then load up equipment and head back home. Grades: The eligibility report will be going out Monday, today. We will be notifying all band students of their eligibility status. If you failed a course for this progress report, then you will be ineligible until the next reporting period. In other words, if you fail a course, you will be unable to attend anymore football games and are going to be out of participating in any marching contests until you regain eligibility. Sadly, that regain day is the day before UIL Region Marching Contest in October, so that means you will be unable to participate in that one as well.
Booster Meeting: Today Monday, September 19th, is our monthly Band Parent Booster Meeting. We have our Booster Board meeting which will be at 6:30, and then we invite any and all parents to attend our monthly band parent meeting at 7:00PM to discuss the major happenings in our program. The directors will present a few items that we know we will need parent help with, so parents please attend tonight’s meeting in the AHS band hall. That wraps it up for this week! Things are going really fast now! If you have any questions, please email me at rxbest@humbleisd.net. Greetings, Eagle Family! It’s our weekly update for September 12, 2022!
Last week had a lot of great things happening - the band made tremendous progress on their show, and we are looking forward to more progress happening in the next few weeks leading up to our very first marching band contest. MONDAY PRACTICE ADDED - Start on September 19th (next week), we will be adding Mondays to the practice schedule. That rehearsal time to be in compliance with the UIL time limit will be 3:45 to 5:15. As you all know, the band has battled a rather unique adversity in regards to weather. The directors have reached out to our consultants, and we have been advised to add this day so that in the case of lightning warning that affect our rehearsal, we will be able to cancel practice on one day and still have the other days to make up for the time lost. Because of the sporadic nature of our weather, we are asking our students and parents to be flexible with us while we continue to work as hard as possible to make the best decisions we can for our students. This added Monday practice is going to give MASSIVE relief to the band and staff to catch up on the drill we have lost due to lightning warnings. NO GAME THIS WEEK - This is our bye week, meaning that there is no football game this Friday. We are going to focus this week on learning a new drill move that is really difficult to pull off, and it will only work if everyone is here. Attendance for rehearsals this week is super mandatory. Then on Friday, go home and enjoy your week! GRADES ARE DUE THIS FRIDAY - This Friday is the LAST DAY for students to submit grades for their academic teachers. After this Friday, grades are pulled and the final average will be submitted into the second progress report. This second progress report will indicate whether or not you are eligible to participate in ANY UIL activities - that’s football games, marching band contests, or anything else. So it is extremely important that all students get their tests retested and their missing assignments turned in quickly. MUSIC PASSOFFS - are still happening. Band students can come to a director and pass off their show music and their fight/school songs to be eligible for a prize with the band directors! All you have to do is come play your band music by memory with a director to indicate that you’ve learned it and you can play it without looking at your music. PERCUSSION CONTEST - This Saturday, the AHS drumline will be going to the Aldine Percussion Round-Up for their very first-ever percussion competition. The contest will be held at the MO Campbell Center in Aldine ISD, and their performance time is 10AM. This is an exciting opportunity for our percussion students. More information is going to be going out this week concerning the itinerary and general contest information. We would LOVE for the band to come out and support them! HOMECOMING - Our next football game in September 23 is our homecoming. The game will be a little different than most games, so be on the look out for that information. If students become ineligible on the progress report, they will be unable to attend the game. Last note - our FIRST MARCHING BAND CONTEST is in 3 weeks! We have a lot to do! Galena Park ISD Festival is coming up, October 1st 2022, Greetings, Eagle Family! Here is your weekly update for September 6, 2022! Hope that you all had an awesome labor day weekend, and I greatly appreciate all of the birthday wishes from everyone. That was really thoughtful, I feel really blessed to be here to serve the program and grow and learn together.
HOME GAME: This Friday, we have a football game at Turner stadium playing football against a team from Las Vegas, which is interesting! On September 9 Friday, we will be on a home game schedule which will be almost identical to two weeks ago. An itinerary will go out soon. A few things will be different about this game:
9/11 CEREMONY: On the day of the Friday game, the varsity band and percussion will be pulled out of class to play for the 9/11 ceremony. All Wind Ensemble and Percussion students will need to report to the band hall for 1st period. Once the ceremony is over, you will report back to your regular class schedule.
GRADES!!!!!!! You have 2 more weeks left until your final grade for eligibility is put in. It is entirely up to you to pass your classes. The second progress report will indicate whether or not you are failing a course and will become ineligible to participate in the competition program. PASSOFFS: We need all students to pass off your marching music. That means coming into the office and playing it by memory for a band director. We have been doing them in class, but you are more than welcome to come in before school, after school, or during lunch to do them. The first 10 students to pass off all of their music will receive a Main Event day with the band directors, with bowling and laser tag. The first 20 students will also receive a prize from the band directors as well. CONCESSION STANDS: Parents, please go to www.atascocitaband.com and sign up for available slots for concession stands. We have been KILLING IT these past few weeks, and we are entirely grateful for all of your help. Especially if you have not worked a concession stand shift yet, we are really needing your help to make this work for our program. THE TRUCK THIS WEEK: Could we get a parent who would be willing to drive the equipment truck for us to football games? If so, please email Mr. Hicks at ahicks@humbleisd.net BLOOD DRIVE TIMES: They are up, and you will be receiving notifications for them. The band directors would strongly encourage you to NOT sign up for a slot that is any time DURING band rehearsal or right before it. If you give blood before a rehearsal, you will have to sit out because you will get sick. Blood loss and heat are a very bad combination. That’s all the things we have for now! Be sure to have the BAND app ready to go this week, because we have a lot going on. Thank you everyone for all of your hard work and dedication, and we will see you on the next one! Greetings friends! We hope everyone had a really fantastic weekend!
I am very proud of the hard work by all of the students and parents of the Atascocita High School band. The students had a very successful first football game, in the stands and for the halftime show. I believe we are off to a really great start! And I’d like to send a MASSIVE thank you to the parents who helped us at the concession stands. It was incredibly successful, and it definitely took a village to pull off. PARENTS: Thank you so much for signing up to help us with our concession stands. We still have a lot of slots left to fill. Go to the band website, www.atascocitaband.com and click on the signup links on the main page to see the open slots available. The next performance for the Atascocita HS Band is Friday September 2nd at Katy stadium. This will be our first away game, and it is an earlier start time then the last home game with a 6pm start time. Since the drive is long and the start time is earlier, we will be dismissing students from class early to come to the band hall to prepare for departure to be there on time. Students will come straight to the band hall 7th period to prepare for the game departure. More information about this game and the itinerary will go out on a separate post on the BAND app and a Charms email. REHEARSALS: This week are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday 3:15 to 5:45. Monday will be your day to take care of all tutorials with your teachers and any other commitments before we get back to it. Again, make sure that you have a water jug out there. WEATHER: We are looking at another week of rainy thunderstorm weather Monday through Friday. We will always still have rehearsal - if the weather is clear, we will go outside. If the weather is not clear, we have some new music to hand out and work on inside the band hall. UNIFORMS: This will be our first game with our full band uniforms. Everything that you wore this last Thursday you will wear again - blue band shirt, black band shorts, and white shoes. This time, we are doing our band coats, band pants, and tall white socks. The socks must go high up to the calf and can not be ankle socks. More information will be going out in the itinerary. GRADES: We are in week 4 of our grading period, so that means we have 3 more weeks left until grades are submitted for UIL no pass no play eligibility rule. Students and parents, it is absolutely critical that you stay up top of your grades so that you will be eligible to participate with us at games and contests. Notifications will keep going out weekly to band students who are falling behind academically. Should you need help, email a director and we will do what we can to help you. WIDDY UP: It’s almost over! September 1st is the last day! Last call for kiddos to push those videos out to family and friends. We have raised a total of $7785 so far towards individual Disney accounts and Booster funds. Keep sending! PEP RALLY FRIDAY: Band students will go straight to the band hall 3rd period instead of their regular class. Once in the band hall with our instruments and music ready to go, we will line up and head to the gym for our pep rally.
That’s it for now. If you have any questions, please call or email us! Greetings everyone, here is your weekly update for August the 22nd.
I hope everyone had an awesome weekend! THIS WEEK’S DATES: This week, we have our very first big performance at our home game at Turner stadium. This week's schedule is a little unique that we are having a Monday practice and a Thursday football game. So the rehearsal schedule is Monday Tuesday and Wednesday 3:15 to 5:45, and on Thursday we play Dickinson High School at Turner stadium. It’s going to be a whole lot of fun, and we are ready for Atascocita football! WEATHER: The weather this week is going to be all over the place, with some scattered thunderstorms all week long. Regardless of if it rains or not, we will always have band practice. If it is raining or lightning outside, we will be inside the band hall working on music. If the weather is clear for us, we will be outside working on drill this week. APPAREL FOR THIS WEEK: For the required apparel, this week you will need the blue band shirt, black shorts, and white marching shoes. We will not be wearing our marching band uniform this week due to the hot weather. If you ordered white marching shoes through TMF, they should be in the band hall ready to be dispersed this week. If you ordered on the late August run, those shoes should arrive either Wednesday or Thursday. If you ordered any items from TMF on the late August run, those items will not come in before the first few football games. However, thanks to the Boosters, we ordered an extra surplus of red colored shirts, blue band shirts, and black band shorts to help those who still need items. As far as apparel goes, we will make sure that all students have what they need. REQUIRED BAND SUPPLIES: For the required supplies, you should have a flip folder with all of your music in it. Most performers have one, and we thank the Boosters big time for their help with that. Now, all students just need to make sure that they have a LYRE to hold the flip folder on their instrument before Thursday. All music stores have them. If you are a woodwind player, please make sure to have an available box of reads on your own. If you're a brass player, having your own blue juice valve oil or trombone slide cream will help you. In all cases, all band students need a polishing cloth for their woodwind or brass instruments. ITINERARY: Attached to this message is the itinerary for Thursday's game. Every week, the football itinerary schedule will be posted on the updates tab of the band website. Always double check to make sure that you have the correct itinerary for the football game. WIDDYUP FUNDRAISER: This is the last week for the WiddyUp! fundraiser! Get those videos shared with as many family and friends as you possibly can! CONCESSION STANDS: Preparing the concession stands for our football games, I learned, is a big process. It is a lot of work to prepare, but it is the biggest money maker that the boosters have that helps the band program tremendously. We want to send a big thank you to the parents and students who helped out this Saturday with getting the concession stands set up with the items it needs. Also, we are thankful for the parents and volunteers who will help us at the concession stands for these next football games. WE STILL NEED HELP!: There are still so many more spots we need help with, however. If you could go to the www.atascocitaband.com website and sign up for as many spots as you possibly can. You most certainly can sign up for multiple spots if you are already at the stand and want to extend it longer. GRADES: Students, we are already in week 3 of the grading period. That means a progress report is coming next week. It is your responsibility to make sure that all school work is submitted properly and that you are making great grades and your academics. If you fail a course during the 6th week, you will become ineligible and unable to participate. That will result in your spot being lost, and we will have to go back and reteach new spots. We are calling for 100% eligibility from all band students! A common misconception for UIL eligibility is that it has to be a report card. If a school is on a nine week grading period, to keep fair with Athletics all across the school that have different grading. UIL has mandated for a statewide 6th week eligibility check. For a school like ours that is on a 9-week grading period, that means you can lose your eligibility twice during the 6th week and the 9th week. Therefore, your second progress report will determine your eligibility for band as well as your report card! It is so critical that you work really hard to make good on your school work so that you can participate at games and contests. 100% eligibility, ALL STUDENTS! WATER JUGS: My last message is about the water jugs. Band students have not been bringing water outside because they know that it is provided to them outside by our ops crew. The water containers outside are fulfilling up your water jugs only, and the little white cups were used for emergencies. However, we went through a whole entire marching season's worth of water cups in just one week! The little white cups do not provide nearly enough hydration that students need to be safe. Not bringing a container outside already filled with water in it is extremely unsafe, and we can't in good conscience allow our students outside without proper hydration. If you do not have a water container at practice, please go back inside and create a solution before you come outside. We will not allow anyone at practice outside without a container of water. And that wraps up this week’s updates! Here is your weekly update for 8/15/2022!
Fundraiser! The WiddyUp! Fundraiser is underway! Make sure to hit that share button of your videos and get those funds raised for your Disney trip and our program. If you still have not submitted your pitch and final video, it’s not too late. You can still join in on the fun - we are expecting everyone to participate, because it’s super ultra easy to do! Private Lessons: We will be sending out a form during class for students who are interested in private lessons tomorrow during class. They are GUARANTEED to make you a better player, because you will receive private individualized instruction on your instrument tailored to your needs to become an outstanding musician. Each private lesson teacher will have different days, times, and weekly prices. If you are interested in taking private lessons with our staff, sign up tomorrow, and we will put everything together for you once the time comes. Have a discussion tonight as a family and see if it’s something that you would be able to do. Concession Stands: Eagle Football season is here!! It’s all hands on deck for concession stands! Please understand that concession stand sales are our biggest money maker for the year. Our fair share fees remain low due to that income. If we don’t have enough concession stand workers, then we must forfeit the stand and give it to another Humble ISD High School, who is more than happy to make the extra income. It’s a big deal. For those who are maybe new to the program, working just at least one concession stand day is usually an expectation of our band parents . We will never ask very much of our band family, but to keep our operations going, we are calling on ALL help possible.
This week’s practice schedule is Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday 3:15 to 5:45. BUT NEXT WEEK’S PRACTICE SCHEDULE IS DIFFERENT. Because we have a Thursday football game next week, we will do our three practice days on Mon, Tues, and Wed. Ohh, by the way… OUR FIRST FOOTBALL GAME IS NEXT WEEK! And it’s a THURSDAY football game, against Dickinson High School on August 25th. It will be a home game at our own Turner stadium. An itinerary of the day will be sent to the students and parents on the BAND app and on the website. Student attire for the first game will be a summer uniform - the navy blue band shirt, black band shorts, and white marching shoes. The shoes should be arriving this week, and the round 3 orders on the webstore should be arriving this week as well. GRADES! Make sure you are keeping up with your class work. In order for us to be competitive this year for band, we need every student to be eligible to play. We will be helping our students every single day, but we need our parent’s help as well with logging in to the classroom gradebook situation and helping your kiddos with their classwork. And that’s all for this week! Let’s have an AMAZING week together! CHAMPIONSHIP MINDSET! |
BRIAN BESTDirector of Bands, Atascocita High School Archives
April 2024
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