RCHS Bands students,

For those of you enrolled in the Honors Wind Ensemble, and the Symphonic Band, I assigned a portion of the ILMEA Senior Scales at the beginning of the week. The due date is this Sunday, May 10th. You are welcome to complete the assignment anytime prior to the due date. There are no further assignments for the remainder of the year. We are not performing at the graduation ceremony.

I have one more task for each of you before we close out the school year. I need every student to return the following:

• School instrument(s)
• Tuner
• Leather folder (Honors Wind only)
• Sheet music (original copies only)
• Mute(s) (brass only)
  
• Flip folder
• Lyre
• Tuxedo (bow tie, dress shirt, vest, slacks, and jacket)
• Concert dress

Several of the school instruments are going to the shop for yearly maintenance. Students also needs students to complete the following:

• Pay any outstanding music department fees (check Cuttime.net)
• Clean out band lockers

Students may stop by the high school between 2-6 pm Thursday (5/7), and anytime after 12pm Friday (5/8) by appointment. Please send me a message via Remind101 or by email if you plan on dropping by Friday. My email address is cjones@rccu1.net.

For those of you enrolled in the 2020 Marching Tigers, you will receive the show music this summer. My hope is that I can upload the sheet music onto the website before the end of May.

Please feel free to contact us should you have any questions. If I don't have a chance to see you before the end of the term, enjoy your summer!

If you reserved a marching band award, they are ready for pick-up. Unfortunately, a few awards have been lost since the first inventory, which was about this time last year. Please review the attached spreadsheet so that you don't make an unnecessary trip.

For those that have awards ready, stop by anytime this week. Your awards are on a table in classroom 116. Construction is moving fast, so please stop by before Friday, May 1st. Classroom 116 is located next to what used to be the teacher's lounge on the first floor. I know the office staff is on-sight until 12 pm. After that and I recommend that you call ahead. The Richland County High School phone number is (618) 837-0397.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1QQs3HXmPBl6f1BJ4tbLW-80YGuZPDR8zUgv0xvJLHU4/edit?usp=sharing
 
Please let me know should you have any questions or issues.

Hello, everyone. I hope you folks are safe and are all weathering the COVID-19 pandemic well!

I want to keep everyone up to date regarding RCHS Bands approach to attendance and grading, per the guidelines set out by the RCCU1 superintendent, Mr. Simpson.

GRADES:
Assignments for the first two weeks will receive feedback (percentage via SmartMusic), but are not graded. Starting Monday, April 30th, In-Class Work, Written Assignments, Tests, and Projects (Concerts) will factor into a class's final grade. The final grade will either be a PASS or FAIL. These four areas will be weighted as follows:

IN-CLASS WORK = 30%
TESTS = 30%
PROJECTS = 30%
WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS = 10%


"CLASSROOM" MATERIALS: SmartMusic & Schoology. Weekly assignments are posted under https://www.rccu1.schoology.com. In-Class Work & Tests are completed at https://www.smartmusic.com, unless other arrangements have been made. Written Assignments are submitted under Schoology. Internet access, a computer or tablet is required for eLearning. Also required is Google Chrome, and/or the new SmartMusic app.

IN-CLASS WORK (SmartMusic): For those that notice, I assign one short sight-reading exercise for each "school day". To give students the flexibility to complete assignments at their own pace, assigned due dates for sight-reading are at the end of the week. These assignments under SmartMusic (www.smartmusic.com) will fall within In-Class Work, which will take the place of your in-class rehearsal grade. Those assignments will appear as a letter and a number (for example B-3). The Honors Wind Ensemble is working on rank 4. The Symphonic Band is working on rank 3. Each sight-reading assignment is worth 10 points within the In-Class Work category.

TESTS (SmartMusic): Tests will still continue to count as a test in SkyWard. Tests are either an excerpt of the ILMEA Senior Scales or a concert band piece (Holst 1st Suite, Bright Sunny Day, etc.). Each test is worth 100 points within the Tests category.

PROJECTS (Video or Audio Recordings): Typically, this category covers performances. Truth be told, we may likely not have a typical performance this term. I am looking into a "virtual concert", in which each student records themselves performing and I combine all recordings into one master recording. Once complete RCHS Bands would publish the end product onto https://www.rchsbands.net. But again, I have never done this and I'm not sure if this can successfully be done. More details coming later! Each project is worth 100 points within the Projects category.

WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS (Schoology): There would be few written assignments, just as they were in other terms not effected by COVID-19. Written assignments will involve writing a small paper regarding a performance or a performer. Criteria will be posted on https:www.rccu1.schoology.com https://www.rccu1.schoology.com. Each test is worth 100 points within the In-Written Assignments category.

RECOMMENDATION TO STUDENTS: It is recommended that each student reserves time daily for class work. Routine is key when taking classes remotely (eLearning or paper packets). This recommendation is for all of your classes, not just band.

Should you not have access to SmartMusic, please let Mr. Jones know as soon as possible. While SmartMusic is the easiest means of completing assignments, there are other ways in which we can accomplish our goals.

ATTENDANCE:
Attendance for the week is based on the completion of sight-reading assignments the week prior. For example, attendance for Tuesday, April 7th (the second day of week #4) is based based on the completion of A-7 (the second assignment of week #3). So, sight-reading assignments (A-1, A-2, B-11, etc.) count as both In-Class Work and as Attendance.

Why not use the current week's sight-reading assignment for attendance? Simply because attendance must be entered before 3pm each day. Teachers are not able to change attendance after 3pm without the help of secretaries in the office. I also wish to give each student plenty of time and flexibility to complete assignments.

Is this a little complicated, unfortunately yes. However, if you complete the assignments by the due date listed on SmartMusic, you will not have any issues.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. Should you have any questions, please feel free to email me at cjones@rccu1.net or contact me on Remind101. You may also leave your questions in the comments section of this post.

Due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus within the continental United States of America, IHSA has cancelled the 2020 Organizational Contest throughout the state on April 18th, 2020.

Parents, guardians, & students, you are invited to attend an informational meeting regarding the 2020 season of the RCHS Marching Tigers, and The Music Shoppe Step-Up Night. The meeting takes place at Richland County Middle School on Monday, March 30th. Parking is available next to the tennis courts.

The Richland / Music Shoppe Instrument Step-Up display will occur in the middle school band room from 6-8pm. For a list of recommended upgrades, please visit https://www.rchsbands.net/recommended-instruments-mouthpieces--reeds.html. www.rchsbands.net/recommended-instruments-mouthpieces--reeds.html. This event will feature intermediate and professional instruments and equipment that will help the students advance further than what a beginner instrument is capable. Attendance for this event is not required, but is highly recommended! This event is open to any band parent/guardian and students from throughout Southeastern Illinois. The flyer may be found at the bottom of this post.

The 2020 Marching Band season information is in the middle school choir room from 7-8 pm. St. Joe, RCMS, & RCHS grades 8-11 students and guardians that are enrolling in the Marching Tigers are expected to attend. We will discuss the 2020 show concept, introduce the staff, discuss class fees, fundraisers, resources, equipment, department uniform purchases, and the season schedule.

The performance calendar, sheet music, drill, & coordinates will be updated over the summer. Those on Remind101 will receive a notification when more details are posted. 

To sign-up for Remind101 notifications text to 81010 the following message:

MARCHING TIGERS STUDENTS = @hee97a
FRIENDS, & FAMILY = @rchsz

We are covering a lot of information. We hope to see you there!

--
Christopher Jones
Director of Bands
Music Teacher

“Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” - George Bernard Shaw

1200 E. Laurel St. 
Olney, IL 62450
(618) 393-2191 ext. 3137
cjones@rccu1.net
https://www.RCHSBands.net

A big thank you from Dr. Franklin from McKendree University for working with the Honors Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band today! He left Lebanon, IL at 4 am to be with us. We all learned a lot, and we sincerely appreciate his time!

For more details pertaining to the band program at McKendree University, please see the contact information found within the flyer below.