President’s Letter April 2008

WOW!! Before I knew it March was done and I hadn’t sent a March letter.

Here we are in April and the GTJHS Music program just received another prestigious award. THEY SCORED ALL 1’S IN THE COUNTY ADJUDICATION!!!! A tremendous accomplishment for the students and Ms. Hopkins!! And now it’s on to States!

We are about to begin our concession stand fund raiser at Harry Grove Stadium. If you haven’t heard, the boosters will be running the Hot Corner and Key’s Creamery stand on the third base line at Harry Grove Stadium. In exchange for staffing this concession, the boosters will receive 10% of the take from each game. The money will be applied to your student(s) account in the normal 90/10 split. This will be a great way for you or your student to earn money for the band fees. Everyone 14 and older may work in the stand. Please see the sign up sheets in the band room and sign up for as many games as you would like.

The board met March 26 th to determine the band fees for 2008/09. The fee has been set to $585.00 per student. Please watch for the payment schedule very soon. This fee takes care of the direct costs associated with participating in the marching band competitions. We need your assist, as always, in fund raising activities to raise the needed capital for equipment, instruments, and uniforms that do not need to be replaced each year but do degrade over time. Your assistance is welcomed and very much appreciated!!

Want to be a mentor for a freshman family? We are continuing a program by which booster families will contact incoming freshman families to answer questions and provide needed information and support to decrease and diminish the apprehension and uncertainties in coming into the Marching Band program. If you would like to volunteer, please send me a note and I will gladly add you to the list. Thank you!

We concluded a very successful Indoor Show in March. The results have not been fully calculated however I want to thank everyone that participated in the production of this show. Congratulations to the Seniors honored at the show. We have appreciated their efforts and contributions and will miss them dearly as they move on in life.

Band Marches in New York’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade – From all accounts, the trip to NY was as fun as it was exhausting!! It was very exciting to see students and friends from Frederick on the Today Show. I want to thank Mike Hillman and Amelia Ecker for handling all of the “heavy lifting” in the preparation of and during the trip.

Mark you calendars for May 17, 2008. The boosters will be hosting a Spaghetti Dinner and Jazz evening. Please tell your friends and neighbors to come out for an evening of good food, good conversation, and GREAT jazz. Please watch for additional information.

Lastly, in today’s litigious society it is the norm to assign blame than to assume responsibility. There have been discussions in which, perhaps, there was a misunderstanding or interpretation of the relationship between the sports boosters and the band boosters. I want you to understand that we are NOT competitors or adversaries. We are very active and proud groups with the commons interests of our children and the respective programs at heart. Most recently, several discussions surrounding the use of facilities within the school building were debated. The discussion was not the result of one group wanting the other to fail but rather a concern over the general health department grade during an inspection in January. Additionally, I misinterpreted permits secured for the indoor show. This mistake, on my part, put the school at considerable risk for which I have apologized to the administration. We must all conform to rules that are not locally born but must be locally enforced. The sports boosters have been and continue to support the marching band as we support our competing athletes. The success and overall school spirit of Gov. Thomas Johnson HS depends on quality relationships. To that end, it starts and ends with us, you and me. Finding middle ground and understanding all of the surrounding circumstances. I am very grateful for your assistance and support to build the relationships with the sports boosters and other organizations within GTJHS.

Have a GREAT month!
Dennis