MARCHING BAND CAMP INFO
July 23-27, 8:30am-9:00pm
STUDENTS MUST BE PRESENT ALL DAY, ALL FIVE DAYS
Hello Marching Band Families!
It is hard to believe that the official start of our season, Marching Band Camp, is upon us! While
summer isn’t entirely over yet, it sure does feel like it flew by...I’d swear that Mini Camp was
just last week! This is a long message, but please read it in its entirety, as it will answer any
questions you have about next week. If you/your student has any questions, please reach out
to your student’s Section Leader first...they are great sources of information and knowledge,
and will likely answer your question and get back to you quicker than either of the Band
Directors.
Lastly,
PLEASE volunteer to help with Band Camp! There have been several emails from the
Band Booster Organization asking for volunteers for a myriad of jobs, including helping prepare
and serve food. Remember, volunteering helps make the band better, and directly benefits
YOUR student!
DAILY SCHEDULE
8:30- Meet in Auditorium for Announcements...
BE ON TIME!!! (Early is “on-time.”)
8:45-12:30 Fundamental Skill Development
12:30-1:00 Lunch (BRING YOUR OWN LUNCH)
1:00-3:00 Sectional Time (Mon-Wed)/Full Ensemble Rehearsal
3:00-3:30 Games
3:30-5:15 Full Ensemble Rehearsal
5:15-6:00 Dinner (PROVIDED, Courtesy of the Band Boosters)
6:00-9:00 Fundamental Skill Development/Learning the Show!
9:00 End of the Day Announcements/Dismissal
It is important to know that we will rehearse up to 9:00pm and THEN do
announcements...9:00pm is
NOT when your student will be in your car ready to go home. We
continue this practice throughout the season (Regular rehearsals end at 6:00 most days, we will
rehearse until 6:00 and THEN do announcements). The reason for this is to maximize our
rehearsal time; if we stop just 10 minutes early each day for announcements, it will cost us close
to 10 hours of rehearsal time over the season.
FOOD
Your student NEEDS to eat breakfast each day before they come, and it should be a healthy
breakfast (something significantly better than just Pop-Tarts; Eggs, Fruit/Vegetables,
Sausage/Bacon) that will fuel them for a busy morning of being active. Our morning blocks
(8:30-Lunch) is the most physically demanding part of the day...your student needs fuel in their
system. If your student shows up to Camp having not had breakfast, you are placing their
health and safety in jeopardy.
Students
NEED to bring their own lunch each day. Again, this needs to be a healthier lunch that
will fuel your student for the afternoon. I would recommend some sort of deli-sandwich
(turkey; ham; etc.), chips, and a
HEALTHY drink (water; Gatorade; vitamin water, etc.) Students
will not have access to a refrigerator to keep their lunches/drinks cold.
DO NOT send your
students to school with Soda or Energy Drinks...these drinks actively dehydrate you, and we
want to make sure your student is well hydrated for all of the physical activities they’ll be doing
throughout the day. Additionally, we request that you not send your student with Peanut
Butter due to the number of allergies we have in the band program; the safety and welfare of
all of our band students is always our top priority!
Students are encouraged to bring snacks to have during their break times (while these are not
in the schedule, your student will have several 5-10 minute breaks throughout the day), but the
snacks should be generally healthy in nature (M&Ms aren’t really snacks...)
Dinner is provided each day, courtesy of the Liberty Band Boosters! It takes many volunteers to
prepare and serve dinner each night, please consider volunteering your time to help make food
for your student and the rest of the Marching Band! Our dinner menu for the week is as
follows:
- Monday- Frito Pie
- Tuesday- Chicken Sandwiches & Tater Tots
- Wednesday- Sloppy Joes
- Thursday- Spaghetti
- Friday- Burgers & Hot Dogs
Alternate meals have been planned for students with special dietary needs and food allergies,
using the information you provided on the Online Information Form from last spring. Please
email libertybandboosters@gmail.com if you have concerns about your student’s food needs
that you didn’t put on the Online Information Form in May.
SPIRIT DAYS
Students are encouraged to fully participate in our Spirit Days! While Marching Band Camp is a
A TON of work, we also try very hard to make it as fun as possible. We
LOVE seeing everybody (staff included) participate in our Spirit Days, and is a great way to build comradery, esprit de corps,
and helps establish our sense of being a team. As always, the school dress code applies, and
your student should be dressed to be active (think Gym class).
- Monday- Super Hero/Disney Day
- Wear your favorite Super Hero or Disney Clothing, Star Wars gear totally counts!
- Tuesday- Sports Day
- Wear your favorite Sports Team Apparel
- Wednesday- Meme Day
- Trying a new one this year. MUST BE SCHOOL APPROPRIATE. If you have to ask if it is appropriate or not, it probably isn’t.....
- Thursday- Section Shirts
- Section Leaders should have been working on this over the Summer. Ask your student’s Section Leader if you have any questions.
- Friday- Liberty Gear
- Wear Liberty/Liberty Band/Red, White, and Blue to show your school spirit!
- We will change into our Show Shirts after Dinner for our Show Preview
WHAT TO BRING
- SUNBLOCK/SUNSCREEN
- LUNCH
- Sunglasses
- Water Bottle (a big one, preferably insulated), with your student’s name on it!
- Instrument/Flags
- Snacks
- Rain Coat/Jacket
CLOTHING/WEATHER
What to Wear:
- Hats-Make sure hats keep the sun off your face
- Sunglasses with lots of UV protection
- Athletic shoes to avoid blisters, well-worn, not new sneakers Shoes must be fully tied. High Tops, Vans, Converse, or Skater types are NOT recommended.
- NO SANDALS, NO FLIP FLOPS, NO CROCS
- Socks-cotton are best
- Shorts/lightweight pants (jeans are NOT recommended) Lightweight materials work
- best
- Light colored clothing will keep you cooler
- Have a light Rain Coat
We’ve had a
VERY hot and dry summer, but our usual Daily-Afternoon-
Thunderstorm weather pattern looks like it is going to be in full swing for band
camp; fortunately, this means that we won’t be fighting high temperatures, but
it also looks like we will be fighting rain.
RAIN DOES NOT STOP THE MARCHING
BAND. Lightning, however, does. The safety of your student is our top concern,
and we will always take students inside if it is unsafe for us to rehearse outside.
With that said, we will not go inside because it is sprinkling or raining lightly.
Students should have a water-resistant jacket (NOT a hoodie), to keep them dry
if/when we fight the weather.
- The Liberty High School dress code applies AT ALL TIMES. No spaghetti straps, no short shorts, etc. Boys will wear shirts at all times
Final Reminders
“I WANT TO QUIT.....”
Band Camp is a lot of hard work but it is also a lot of fun. Wednesday is the hardest day for kids
to get out of bed. They don’t think they can make it through the week but they always
do. Some kids will ask to quit. They have made a commitment that they need to see
through. Please be encouraging. We need everyone at camp every day. At this point, if a kid
quits, the drill would need to be re-written which would cost the band program thousands of
dollars. Eating healthy and drinking lots of water is very important. Our show is going to be
amazing this year!
MARCH-A-THON
This year our March-a-thon is scheduled for Saturday, September 15th. Every year we ask
students to take a March-a-thon packet. The packet includes a cover letter explaining how
everything works, a pledge sheet, and 10 form letters. The pledge sheet is usually used by kids
who want to get pledges from friends and neighbors that live close by right before the march-a-
thon. The 10 form letters are where we earn most of our money (over $10,000 last year). The
kids will receive their packet during band camp. We ask that the kids fill out the form letters
with addresses and return it. In order for this to happen, we need folks to plan ahead. The
parent volunteers will take the form letters and attach stamped return envelopes to them for
return donations, organize all of them and have them in the mail before camp ends.
PLEASE,
PLEASE, PLEASE take a few minutes sometime before camp to go through your address book
and find 10 names that might be interested in helping to support our band program.
Grandparents, aunts, uncles, and friends are amazingly supportive of our band program. Don’t
forget we will be having drawings for various prizes during the March-a-thon. (CONTINUED)
Parents you can help us out with incentive prizes. In years past we have given out $5, $10, or
more gift cards for various places. If you can donate any gift cards we would really appreciate it.
You can order them through our scrip program if you like!
August Rehearsals
We do have rehearsals between Band Camp and School Starting. Dates and Times are:
- July 30 5:30-8:00pm
- Aug 1 5:30-8:00pm
- Aug 6 5:30-8:00pm
- Aug 8 5:30-8:00pm
- Aug 13 5:30-8:00pm
Regular Schedule Once School Starts
Our regular Marching Rehearsal Schedule is:
- Tuesday 3:30-6:00
- Wednesday 3:15-5:15
- Thursday 3:30-6:00
- Saturday 9:00-1:00
This schedule will begin the first day of school for ALL Students (August 16th)
Paperwork
The Assumption of Risk form and your Student’s Athletic Physical form are due Monday
morning of Band Camp. We must have these forms in order for your student to participate.
These forms will be turned in, in the band room. Please find a parent volunteer to ask where to
put the forms if you are unsure. Both of these forms are available on the band website:
www.liberty.band
Fees
Many, many, people have paid partial or full payments towards the $500 course fee for
Marching Band/Color Guard. THANK YOU! I do understand that there was a problem with Pay-
For-It accepting partial payments over the summer. The LHS Bookkeeper, Denise Bouchard, is
back from her summer break and is ready and available to help you with any payment problems
you might have. Remember, you can pay for the Marching Band Course fee online at Pay-For-
It, or by writing a check in person with Mrs. Bouchard.
As a reminder, the entirety of the marching band course fee is Due, August 15th.
FINALLY...
There will be a
PARENT MEETING on Friday, July 27th at 6:30pm in the auditorium. This is a
very important meeting. We will discuss the marching band schedule, competition schedule,
March-a-thon, Entertainment Book sales (some things will be different this year), and the trip
to Dallas. After the parent meeting, we will have a
PARENT PREVIEW PERFORMANCE (weather permitting). This performance will be at the District 20 Stadium.
AUDIENCE MEMBERS WILL NOT BE ALLOWED INTO THE STADIUM UNTIL AFTER THE PARENT MEETING. The preview will start as soon as the Parent meeting is over. PLEASE go to the meeting first! The Parent Preview is great because it shows you how much the kids have accomplished during the week. It also gives the kids their first performance of the year!
The staff is very excited about this year’s show and we are anticipating another amazing year
with The Liberty “Pride of the Lancers” Marching Band!!! Thanks for reading all of this, and we’ll
see you soon!
Best regards,
Sean Hedding Sarah Romero
Director of Bands Assistant Director of Bands
