Carl Hayden Band Day

This past Friday the Capitol School Band had an opportunity to go to Carl Hayden High School and learn about marching band. The Cougars met high school students as well as other middle schoolers who play thier same instrument and also learned how to march and play at the same time. Between all of the schools there were probably 100 kids all playing together and the sound was great! The students then were able to play some games and get to know the students from all of the schools. After spending a few hours in the hot sun the students enjoyed a pizza dinner with chips and soda and some time to relax in the beautiful courtyard. The end of the day included playing during pre-game, they played Poker Face by Lady Gaga and The Falcon Fight Song. After watching the 1st half of the football game they were able to see the Falcon Band march their halftime show. It was an exciting and tiring day, fun was had by everyone. :0)

The Blog Has Begun

This is the first official posting of the Capitol School Band and Orchestra Blog! I'm so excited to begin sharing the journey my students I are on - and more importantly, the music we are making!

The school year is off to an amazing start and we are already making some great music. The middle school band has about 20 kids in it now, which sounds small but is actually the biggest group I have had in this age group since I started here over 5 years ago - little by little we are growing in size and ability. I was quite excited to realize at the end of last year that these kids are beginning to sight-read - something we have never been able to do before, such a milestone! The middle school band will be attending the Carl Hayden High School Band Day on September 24th - our first glimpse in to the world of high school band and marching band - we are all very excited for this event.

The 5th grade band came back to school this year with more conviction and focus. Last year as 4th graders they did not accomplish what I had hoped they would and at the end of the year I was questioning weather any of them would even care to play this year - but a large majority of them wanted to continue playing their instrument and they are sounding better than ever!

5th Grade Strings is built of a group of hardworking and consistent musicians. Last year they slowly worked towards learning their notes and fingerings and songs. I look forward to seeing where they will go this year as 2nd year players - there are 11 kids in that group and we might be adding a number 12 soon!

4th Grade Band and Orchestra will be starting next week. I have the unique opportunity this year to let most students who want to learn an instrument be in band or orchestra - therefore, I am about to start over 60 students! I am truly looking forward to our first performance - seeing and hearing an army of kids play Hot Cross Buns!

At the bottom of this page you will see a link to a donation account through paypal. If you would like to make a No-Strings-Attached donation to our program - please follow the link and give whatever you would like. I say "No-Strings-Attached" because these economic times have made it very difficult for teachers to purchase the things that they need due to lack of funds - and the funds we do have access to have so many rules to them that it's nearly impossible to buy what we want and need for our classrooms in a timely manner.

While donating through this account is much easier for me to spend the money as a teacher - it is not linked to the school district and therefore does not include recieving any form of return on your taxes. So . . .

If you would like to donate to our program, but would like to recieve Arizona Tax Credit in return, please follow this link: www.phxschools.org/district/tax_credit/ and put Capitol Band and Orchestra as the recipient of your donation. Every little bit helps, so please consider making a donation!

Please Donate to the Band and Orchestra!