190 Hours of Music and Memories

Wow! It’s hard to believe that 4 weeks have come and gone. I’m so impressed with all of our new members. You have embraced our culture while bringing your own unique personalities and ‘brand of fun’ to our band. To all our student leaders, I couldn’t be prouder of how you have helped to welcome all our new members. We are in great hands with each and every one of you.

Thank you to…

The band president and vice president for helping to create such fun memories with Band Olympics! The skits, the dress-up days, the games, and the posters all help to foster the spirit of community that we’re all about!

The drum majors for your service to the band. For leading us in sectionals, full rehearsals, on field, in the band hall; for setting up and tearing down equipment, for checking on each other and all the members of the band. And for being such kind and dedicated young people.

The guard, percussion, brass, and woodwind captains for being positive role models every day, every hour. For teaching music, marching, visuals; for modeling rehearsal etiquette and for looking out for each member of your section throughout each day.

To all the section leaders for sharing your enthusiasm, your hard work, your positivity, and your musicianship.

The secretaries for helping keep our attendance documents organized and for encouraging everyone to know what’s going on.

The librarians for organizing our library and for making sure we had sheet music in a timely manner each day.

The uniform managers for sizing the band, for organizing the dressing rooms, and for helping us look good.

The field managers for taking such good care of us by filling the 10-gallon water coolers every day, for setting up drum major podiums, the water table, and pop-up canopy.

The social media managers for documenting the students in our band and for creating a fantastic bulletin board where we can see each other’s smiling and funny faces each week.

The percussion leadership for learning to load and unload the band trailer. It’s a hard job that often happens out of sight, but I see you and truly appreciate your efforts!

To all the members of the band for helping to create such great music and memories with each other.

To all the booster parents for helping to keep us organized behind the scenes so our students can take center stage. Because of you, we have a semi-truck, a trailer, a box truck, a 40 ft storage container, and a hugely successful fundraiser (that’s still going strong!)

To the CapCity Executive Team for working so diligently throughout the spring and summer. It’s going to be a great 30th Annual Capital City Marching Festival!

And lastly, to our outstanding band staff: Mr. Torres, Ms. Allen, Mr. Lampert, and Mr. Barrett. It is my honor and privilege to work with you each day.

Looking forward…

Monday is the first day of the 2023-24 school year! Who knows what magical moments are in store?! I wish the best for each member of our band family.

Ice Cream Social and Everything Day is Saturday, August 19. Then shortly after that is our first football game on Friday, August 25. After-school rehearsals begin next week with All Winds and Percussion (but no Color Guard) on Monday, then Color Guard only on Tuesday, and then full marching band practice on Wednesday and Thursday. (I've decided to cancel the 1-hour rehearsal on Friday.) Please keep track of the calendar each week.

Words of Wisdom…

Some tips for everyone as we begin the school year.

1. Connect - go out of your way to make friends, both in and out of the band. Our school culture is stronger when the band has friends in and out of the band. We represent the entire school everywhere we go, so be proud of our band and be proud of our school.
2. Communicate - new and old students alike, when the going gets tough, talk to someone! - To your parents and family, to me, to Mr. Torres or Miss Allen or Mr. Lampert or to your friends. When you don’t understand something in your classes, lean into the confusion or discomfort and strive to understand better by actually talking to your teacher. Don’t hide from your problems; embrace them as all part of the education you are engaged in at LASA.
3. Eat well, drink water, practice good hygiene, get lots of sleep, go for the occasional walk, and spend time with your friends and family in-person (or via technology when you can’t.)
4. Be organized - create simple routines, make short lists every day of things to do, then feel good when you check them off. Start big assignments early, work on them a little (or a lot) each day. Complete the little ones in between.
5. Keep a journal - write your thoughts down on paper or type them on your device. “Thinking by writing” is a powerful skill that will get better as you grow and help you achieve wonderful things.

I could go on, but that’s it for now. I’m delighted with how far we’ve come as a band in the past 4 weeks. I’m excited for the road ahead, and so look forward to the stories we’ll tell and the memories we’ll make.

Musically yours,

Ponder East

LASA Raptor Band