Dear Stallion Orchestra Parents,
I hope you’re enjoying a beautiful spring! The long days and warmer weather remind us all that summer is just around the corner, but the South County Orchestra Students are still busy preparing for their final performances. To find out what's coming in the next few weeks, click here .
ORCHESTRA VOLUNTEERS NEEDED! We are still in need of a few more volunteers to fill 3 positions on the Orchestra Booster Committee for the 2010-11 school year. Please consider giving just a few hours of your time to help out the SCSS orchestra program. The first two positions listed below are especially important because they provide most of the budgeted income for the booster club (The profits from the other fundraisers like pie sales, cookie dough sales and the car wash primarily go into the individual student accounts). If we cannot participate in these fundraisers, it will severely impact the booster budget and many important items would have to be eliminated. All of these jobs can easily be done by a parent who works, since the Patron Donations and Publicity jobs can be done around your schedule, and the Tag Day is on one Saturday only. The Tag Day job in particular is an easy one, since the Band takes the lead on it and we just help out. PLEASE don't think "oh, someone else will do it" - we need YOU! Contact Cindy Saalbach at cindysaal@aol.com or 703-690-3638 to let her know which job you are interested in. Thanks in advance for your help!
Patron Donations: This job entails visiting local businesses to request donations in support of the orchestra, and can be done around your schedule. It would be a great fit for someone with a background in sales, but can be done by anyone with an outgoing personality. The various forms, letters, etc. would be provided to you by the out-going person. When you receive a donation you would forward the check to the Treasurer, and notify others of the donation so the business or person can be recognized on the website and in each concert program. You would also mail a thank you letter to them (we will provide).
HS Tag Day: This fundraiser is only for HS students, so normally the chairperson is a HS parent. This is a one-day event on the second Saturday after school starts, so it's a good job for a working parent that can only do weekends. This is when the music students go door-to-door within our SCSS boundaries to ask for donations. The band coordinates this event, and you might be asked to bring the snacks for the morning, or pick up the pizza for lunch, etc. (You will be reimbursed that day). We will find the adult volunteers to drive, and Mrs. Lancaster will obtain student volunteers. You will help register the orchestra students who sign up to help and give out the assignments to the volunteer drivers.
Publicity: This job would include preparing a flyer before the concerts and putting them up in local business establishments, sending e-mail notices of concerts to the newletter editors of our local communities, and seeking out performance opportunities for our more advanced players in local community establishments. Once again, this job can be done around your schedule.
Congratulations to all of the orchestra students who received awards at the Awards Banquet on June 5th! Mrs. Lancaster presented awards to many well-deserving students for their hard work, efforts, improvement, and accomplishments over the past year. A special congratulations to Katie Saalbach for receiving the 2010 Orchestra Booster Scholarship! We would also like to extend a fond farewell to our 25 seniors who will be leaving us this year. Congratulations on your graduation and best wishes to you in the future. We will miss you next year!
SCSS Orchestra and Mrs. Lancaster made it into the paper. Click here to read the full article and found out which students are specifically mentioned in the article!!!!!!
Congratulations to the Intermediate and Advanced Middle School Orchestras for their outstanding performances at the Music In the Parks competition at Busch Gardens on May 7th!! The Intermediate Orchestra received 4th place in its division and the Advanced Orchestra received 1st place! The Advanced Orchestra also received the Overall Champion of Orchestras Award!!!! We are so proud of all of the students and Mrs. Lancaster for their hard work and efforts!
If you are considering making music your career, be sure to make plans to visit the Performing and Visual Arts College Fair, held each fall at the convention center in DC! Click here for more details on the date and time. You'll find almost every college and music conservatory in the country represented there. It's helpful to decide ahead of time which schools you want to consider so that you can make the best use of your time. Consider using this form to compare the various schools since it helps you gather the same info from each school (you can obtain answers to many of the questions in advance by visiting the college/conservatory websites).