Andy Esserwein

Friday, September 28

IMPORTANT CHANGE!!!

We found out yesterday afternoon that we will be performing pre-game tonight, starting at approximately 7:05. 

The schedule will all be the same, with the exception that students should be in the bandroom this afternoon at 4:25, and dressed at 4:45 so we can leave a little bit earlier.

We hope to see you there!

MINI CAMP INFORMATION - Please remember that we will be holding our minicamp tomorrow.  All students should be on the field ready to start at 10:00 AM.  Each student should bring their own lunch.  Dinner will be provided by the booster club.

We will be done at 8:30 PM!

Tuesday, September 25

This is a busy week for the Sprayberry High School "Band of Gold".  We have many important events in the next 7 days, and I will discuss each one briefly below.  I will post more information about each as it becomes available.

• Please don't forget that it is VERY IMPORTANT that all students attend EVERY rehearsal.  We have not had a rehearsal where every student was in attendance in several weeks.  I understand that we have a very busy schedule, and that students have homework and other obligations, but if we want to be successful, we must have every student at each rehearsal.  Remember, rehearsal is where we learn to work as a group.  If one person is missing, we either have to take future rehearsal time to catch him/her up, or we have to hope that that person will be able to learn the material that was missed.  Either way it slows down the progress of the group.  Parents, please help us by ensuring that your student is at every rehearsal!

• Friday night we will be playing at Chattahoochee High School.  We have recently found out that this is Chattahoochee's homecoming, so our performance opportunities will be limited.  At this point, we will be performing after the game.  As I find out more, I will post information in this blog.  The basic schedule for Friday Night is as follows:
  • 4:00     All equipment at the truck
  • 4:40     In bandroom to get dressed
  • 5:15     Buses leave
  • 7:30     Game Begins
  • 10:00   Possible BOG performance
  • 11:15   Approximate return time

            Directions to the game are included at the bottom of this post!

• Saturday is our mini-camp.  We will begin at 10:00 AM sharp, and continue until 8:30 PM.  This is an important day, because we will try to learn as much of the closer as we possibly can, and we will prepare for our exhibition performance.  It is imperative that every student be in attendance for the entirety of the mini camp!  More details will be coming soon...

• On Monday night (October 1st), we will be performing at the Cobb County Exhibition at McEachern High School.  This is an event geared to allow the bands in Cobb County/Marietta City Schools see each other in a friendly, non-competitive environment.  We will perform our show for the other bands in attendance, and will receive taped comments from a panel of adjudicators that we will use to help refine our show.  I am attaching below the general schedule for the evening.  This will be a late night for the students, so please encourage your child to get any homework done for Tuesday during the weekend.  We will not return to Sprayberry until late (around 10:30 PM), so it is imperative that they get a jump on any homework/projects/studying they can.

            Directions to McEachern are included below.

2007 Exhibition Schedule

Directions to Chattahoochee High School from Sprayberry (via Mapquest)

Directions to McEachern High School from Sprayberry (via Mapquest)

As always, thank you very much for your continued support of the Sprayberry High School Band!

Wednesday, September 19

This week is 8th Grade Night!  We are very excited about welcoming our future members to come and experience the Sprayberry Band!  If you know of any 8th graders (or even 7th graders) who are interested in being in the band in the next several years, please invite them to come and attend. 

Here is the basic schedule for Friday night.

• 5:15   8th Graders begin arriving
• 5:15   All current marching band members report for the game
• 5:40   Current marching band dressed for the game
• 5:45   Move to warmup locations - Welcome 8th graders!
• 6:20   Full Band Warmup   
  
  • We will play the show for our guests and play through all stand music
• 6:50   March into stadium
• 7:30   Game begins
• Halftime - We will perform the first 3 movements of our 2007 Show
• Following the game - March out of stadium to return to bandroom
  
  • We will have an ice cream social for all of our members and our guests!      

Middle school parents can pick up their students at approximately 10:30.  We don't have control over the length of the football game, but on average we are done around 10:30.

Parents, please come and support the students during the game.  We are very excited about presenting a large portion of our show during halftime.  Don't be afraid to cheer loudly when you see something you like during the show.  It lets our students know you appreciate the hard work they have put into mastering our show!

As always, thanks for your support of the Sprayberry Band Program!  If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at your convenience.

Monday, September 17, 2007

In a previous blog entry, I discussed the changes to our marching band schedule.  Below is a PDF of the "Band Schedule at a Glance" that you can download.  It contains the new schedule information so your family can plan for the month of October.

Download 2007_marching_band_schedule_at_a_glance_revised_9_07.pdf

Friday, September 14

Please don't forget that we will be holding concert band registration tomorrow in the BA Building (Ticket Booth) from 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM.  If you received a letter from your student earlier in the week, and did not register last night, please plan on coming in and getting registered!

Thank You!

Welcome to the blog for Andy Esserwein, Band Director for the Sprayberry High School Band Program.  This blog will be updated often to keep all parents and students up to date on information about the Band of Gold.  If you have any questions, or need to contact me, please email me at andy.esserwein@cobbk12.org.

Thursday, September 13

This week the marching band will be travelling to Milton High School.  Due to a presentation at halftime, we will be performing our show before the game.  The schedule for tomorrow night is as follows:

4:00 - All equipment should be at the truck.  Each person is responsible for their own equipment!
4:30 - Students report to bandroom to change into uniform
4:50 - Uniform check
4:55 - Load busses
5:00 - Depart for Milton High School
6:00 - Arrive at Milton
                - Unload truck and warmup
7:05 - PERFORMANCE
10:00 - Game ends - We will stay and watch Milton perform their show at post-game
11:15 - Arrive at Sprayberry High School (Approximate)

We look forward to seeing all of you at Milton High School!

NEW COMPETITION SCHEDULE

Due to weather issues earlier in the month (high heat and rain) that caused the loss of significant outside rehearsal time, we have decided to change the previously posted competition schedule.  Our first competition was scheduled for September 29th; however, we have decided to move our first competition to October 13th to enable our students more time to prepare the show.

Here is the new schedule:

September 29, 2007 - All Day rehearsal to replace the cancelled rehearsal from August
October 13, 2007 - Competition - Time and Location TBA
October 20, 2007 - Southern Invitational at Sprayberry High School
October 27, 2007 - Competition - Time and Location TBA