Andy Esserwein

Monday, October 29

I would like to start this post by saying congratulations to the Sprayberry "Band of Gold" for their outstanding performance at the 34th Annual Peach State Marching Competition in Rome, Georgia.  The band performed at a very high level, and earned the following awards:

Superior Ratings in All Categories: Drum Major, Percussion, Colorguard, and Overall Band
Best in Class AAA in Percussion and Overall Band
Second Place in Class AAA in Drum Major
Fourth Place in Class AAA in Colorguard
Second Place OVERALL in Percussion
Third Place OVERALL in Overall Band (.07 points behind Gordon Lee)

However, even more than awards, the Staff and I were thrilled with the overall maturity and pride displayed by the band.  From the second we stepped off the buses until the moment the show ended, the band demonstrated a professional attitude, and their performance was outstanding because of that attitude. We acted like champions, and thus performed like champions!

I am very pleased with the progress the band has made this season.  Despite numerous changes to our normal rehearsal schedule due to weather, the band improved from week to week, and ended the competitive season on a very high note.  Our hard work resulted in a fantastic show that has been enjoyed by many, many people.  The awards are secondary; rather, it is the feeling of performing well and receiving the standing ovations that will stick with each of us.  Thank you to all of the students for your hard work!

This week begins the "Post Competition" portion of our schedule.  We still have many obligations, including football games, homecoming, senior night, and our performance in the McDonald's Thanksgiving Parade in Chicago, Illinois.  We normally slow down during this time of year, however, this year we will need to keep rehearsing and performing at very high levels.

Included here is the post competitive rehearsal schedule that I handed out to the students last Thursday night.  Students, please make sure that you are in attendance according to the schedule.  Students who are attending the Chicago trip will need to be at all rehearsals.  Those students who are not attending the trip will only need to be in attendance when Full Band is listed. 

Here is the schedule in a PDF format...

Post Competition Schedule

One note for all parents and families not attending the Chicago trip...the parade will be broadcast nationally LIVE on WGN starting at 10:00 Eastern Time.  Please tune in to see us perform!

This week is homecoming, which means we will have more performance opportunities than normal!  This Friday will be busy...please see the attached preliminary schedule to see everything the band is doing this  Friday night!

Friday, November 2

1st Period - Pep Rally - Band Performs
Immediately after school - Band reports to get dressed and prepared for Homecoming Parade
3:45 PM - Leave school to stage for parade
4:30 PM - Parade Begins
5:15 PM - Parade ends - students will eat during this time (please bring food)
7:30 PM - Football game begins vs. Kell
Halftime - Band performs for homecoming activities

We will determine exactly when the band will be performing our show in the next couple of days.  I will post that information when it is available.

As always, thank you for your support of the Sprayberry Band!

Monday, October 22

First of all, THANK YOU to everyone who had any part in making The 24th Annual Southern Invitational a success.  Once again, it was extremely well organized, and everyone who worked in any capacity represented our school and community so positively!  I had numerous comments from band directors about the myriad of reasons that they attend SI, but most centered around how well their students are treated, and how well the contest is run.  Thank you again for everything each of you did to make this event a success.

Also, thank you to the organizers and heads of the various areas who spent countless hours preparing for the event.  Your effort and time was apparent, as the event ran so smoothly.  Thanks so much!

This weekend, we will be traveling to our final competition of the year at Rome High School.  We are excited about the opportunity to compete again, and look forward to performing a great show!  Here is the tentative schedule for Saturday...

Meet at school for warmup:  10:30 AM
Load Truck:  11:45 AM
Eat Lunch (Bring your own): 12:00 PM
Leave for Rome HS: 1:15 PM
PERFORM:  5:15 PM
Dinner: TBA
Awards: 8:30 PM
Return Home: 11:00 PM

More specifics will be coming to you soon.  Please make every effort to attend this competition and support our outstanding students!

We also play at Walton this Friday, but we do not have specifics at this time.  I will let you know more during the week.

Thank you for all you do!

Thursday, October 4

We have received the tentative schedule for our first marching competition next Saturday, October 13th.  We will be marching in the McEachern Marching Invitational, and will perform at 5:45 PM.  We invite all family and friends to attend and cheer on the Sprayberry "Band of Gold"!

Attached below is the tentative schedule for next Saturday.  This is subject to change slightly if any changes are made to the competition schedule by the contest organizers.  A final handout will be distributed as soon as we receive the final schedule.

McEachern Marching Invitational Tentative Information

Tuesday, October 2

CONGRATULATIONS!

Congratulations to the marching band for an outstanding performance last night at the Cobb County Exhibition!  Mr. Ellis and I were very pleased with your performance.  You played and marched confidently, and represented our school and community extremely well!  Thank you for all of your hard work...it does pay off!  While we still have a great deal of hard work ahead to finish and clean our show, we are proud of what you have accomplished and look forward to the rest of the season.

Parents - THANK YOU VERY MUCH to all of you who assisted last night in feeding, chaperoning, transporting equipment, or assisting in any way with our show last night.  We could not have done it without you!  Also, thank you to everyone who traveled to McEachern to watch the performance.  Having your support means alot to the students, and we appreciate your cheers and applause!

We will hold our normal rehearsals for the rest of the week.  However, we have no football game this weekend!  Enjoy your time away!

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

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