Hello Milwee Band Family!


3 Important Updates this week!

1. SUMMER BAND CAMP Info is here!
2. School Inventory is February 27th and 28th! See info below, All school instruments must be returned the week of February 24th (Right after Solo Festival).
3. Spring Concert Date, please read info below, and thank you for your patience!

Summer Band Camp dates have finally been confirmed by Lake Mary HS! The dates for the camp is June 1st  thru 11th, running 2 weeks, Monday thru Thursday.
The camp website is NOT up to date at the moment, but will be updated next week (the band director at Markham Woods is in charge of the website). Registration will open in the coming weeks and I will send an email out letting you know when online registration is open.
https://sites.google.com/markhamwoodsband.org/lml-band-camp/summer-band
When the website is updated (again, sorry for the delay!), all Students getting this email should sign up for “ADVANCED CAMP” (not beginning!) and may also sign up to add on Jazz band or a beginning band for a secondary instrument. Please see the website for specific times and more information.


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School owned instruments: The School District will be conducting our inventory check on Thursday/Friday, February 27th and 28th.
This means that ALL school owned instruments MUST be returned to Milwee on either Monday, February 24th or Tuesday, February 25th to be checked off the school districts list and may be picked up at the end of the school day on Friday the 28th.
I’ll resend this information out the week before, but here’s the gist of how inventory will work (SCHOOL OWNED instruments only! No Music Shack instruments needed for inventory)


I will be available to check in your school owned instrument from 8:45am until 4:30pm, daily that week. If you can drop off your instrument in that time frame, there is no need to make specific arrangements.
I am also happy to get to school early/stay later by appointment, so please simply email me to make arrangements that will meet your schedule. No big deal at all! The most important thing is to get these instruments back!
Thank you for your cooperation with this! With enough notice, please make sure you have your arrangements to complete this task.
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I’ve been receiving a few questions/emails concerning the dates for our Spring Concert. Unfortunately, we are at the whim on both the new Florida Testing Schedule and Lyman High School’s Auditorium. Lyman’s scheduling department has rejected the dates in April I have sent requesting use of their auditorium; thank you for your patience as we try to navigate these challenges. I’ve sent new date requests for May, but this is pending approval from our testing coordinators at our school as traditionally we have not had our spring concert during testing days.

As of right now, the date for the spring concert will the week of May 11th, with the preferred date being Thursday May 14th since Make-Up testing is usually on Fridays. This is the best solution so far, and I appreciate your support and patience with this still being slightly up in the air.

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That’s it for this weeks update. Thank you for all of your time and support in music.


Regards,

Joshua Autrey
Director of Bands
Milwee Middle School

​Hello Beginning Band members,
 
Just 4 Quick Updates this week:
 
1. Class agenda, upcoming scale tests
2. Solo and Ensemble Sign Up Reminder
3. Private Lesson Encouragement / Practice reminder
4. Lyman Mentoring WILL be back (end of January, week of 27th)
 
1. This week, we are reviewing our F Major scale, and learning the CHROMATIC SCALE. 
F Major is a “Review” scale, as we have played F Major scale both before, and after winter break. We will be testing this scale in class Wednesday/Thursday of next week as announced to students on Monday. The pattern will be the All-State pattern scale, which is found in your band book. I’ve also put an assignment up on eCampus so students may submit the assignment there before next Wednesday to help save us time in class. Good luck!
 
The Chromatic Scale is broken down into a two smaller assignments: first we will only be starting at the top (STAR on your fingering chart) of the scale, and working our way down in half notes to the bottom (🙂 on your fingering chart). This pass off is also due next week. The second pass off (going both up, then down) will be due in 2 weeks.
 
*Important Note* Check eCampus for all assignments and due dates this quarter: 
This quarter, we will be learning 5 of the 7 major scales (F, Ab, Bb, Eb, G) plus the chromatic scale. Students MUST practice outside of school in order to keep up. I’ve seen many students fall behind and get discouraged in band because of a lack of practice this time of year.

Please please please keep encouraging your student to be practicing 1.5 hours outside of school hours to keep up. I have never seen a student who diligently practices the appropriate amount of time, outside of school, receive less than an “A”!  Keep at it, make small progress daily. Don’t procrastinate until the last minute!
 
 
2. Just a quick reminder that Solo and Ensemble sign ups are due by this FRIDAY. Please sign up online using this form:  LINK TO ONLINE SIGN UP
This event is NOT required, but HIGHLY recommended.
 
3. Private lessons for all students are highly encouraged! There are a number of GREAT teachers in the area who will place your student on an individual practice plan that will target areas of strengths and weaknesses in your musicianship. As a teacher of 275 students, it can be hard for me to hear each individual student every day, and as such, I can not always monitor progress to make sure your student is keeping up (and ready to pass their assignments). If you would like to get connected to a private instructor, please let me know – I can steer you towards a great match of a teacher who will push your student in positive ways! I can not say enough how much Private Lessons is such an effective way to be more prepared to get better quick!
 
4. Lyman Mentoring sessions will be returning at the end of this month. I was hoping to have a more concrete weekly date for you, but I’m still waiting to hear back from the high school volunteers as to which day of the week most students can attend. It’s looking to be either on Monday or Thursday after school, so mark your calendars. The sessions will run throughout the month of February in order to prepare students for Solo and Ensemble Festival. 
 
 
That’s it for this week, thank you all so much for encouraging your student to practice! As a reminder for class expectations, students should be practicing for 1.5 hours a week outside of class, at home in order to expect an “A” on their assignments.
 
Joshua Autrey
Director of Bands 
Milwee Middle School