Milford Band Parents .   FAQ Frequently Asked Questions PDF version of FAQ: FAQ About Band at Milford High School Q. What kind of activities will my student participate in while in the Milford Band program? A. Typical band program activities include concerts, festivals (Band Festival, Solo and Ensemble Festival, State Solo and Ensemble Festival), parades, football game halftime performances, and marching band competitions. It is a multi-faceted program! Q. Will my child be challenged by the music performed and what kind of success has the band program achieved in recent years? A. The band program performs High School Class B music for the Concert Winds and Class AA for the Wind Ensemble, which is the most difficult music available. Most of the Wind Ensemble music is university level literature. The bands have enjoyed great success at Band Festival, earning Division I (Superior) ratings for both bands last year and for the past 20+ years. Bands are ability-based and, because of that, are able to perform advanced literature. Q. What is the commitment to marching band at the high school level? A. The Marching Band is the student's first exposure to the high school program. It is a season in the fall, which parallels the football season. It begins in August and ends in November. Students will participate in the rehearsals two days per week and Saturdays for approximately 12 weeks. They rehearse from 5 - 9 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday plus most of the day on Saturday. It seems like a lot of time, but most students will tell you that it is the best part of the year! Marching Band actually requires less time than most sports at the high school level. Yes, rehearsals are a lot of hard work, but they are also fun and they are with their friends and achieving much! Q. Then, how successful is the marching program? Are they out to win? A. The Marching Band has been very successful over the years. It is one of the most successful in the state of Michigan over the past 15 years. We are committed to the pursuit of excellence in all areas of the Band program. We choose to push our students to excel to goals that are obtainable within a set of competitive parameters. We do not compete to "beat the other bands" but to improve and to stretch those parameters which we have chosen. We improve only through long hours of dedication and discipline and rehearsal. We compete for individual growth, not winning trophies. Q. Does it cost money to be in band? A. Yes, but you get what you pay for! A good quality program does cost some money. Many activities at MHS are costly compared to middle school activities. The majority of the costs you will need to pay will be for room, board, transportation, and instruction at Band Camp. However, the band provides many opportunities to fund raise for these expenses, such as selling flowers by the flats, pie sales, cookie dough sales, pizza sales, scrip, Market Day sales, BINGO, poinsettia sales, etc. There are so many opportunities to do fundraising that there is no reason a student should miss out on band. The band has had many families over the years fund raise for even 2 or 3 students in the band, and not have to pay anything out of pocket. Yes, it does take effort, but if the desire is there, so is the opportunity to raise the cash. Q. I am ready to do some fund-raising - when can I open my student's band account for high school? A. Student accounts may be opened right away. The treasurer will be happy to open your student's account with just a contact through the band's webpage on the internet: www.milfordbandparents.com and then go to "Band Account" and submit your request. The treasurer will set it up for you. Q. My student is very active in track and field, soccer and several other things outside of school. Can they still participate in band? A. YES! Only sports that are fall sports conflict with Marching Band, and not always even they conflict. Anything that is a winter or spring sport does not conflict with marching band at all! Remember, marching band is over in November! And, when things come up outside of the school activities, we will try to work them out so that they can still participate. Obviously, some students play football, swimming and diving, and other fall activities that conflict. Some of those often cannot be worked out for marching band. Q. Can my student still be in band even though these conflicts arise? A. Of course! We do have students that play football, are on the swim team, etc. that still are in a band class. They still play every day as part of their regularly scheduled band class. The bands try to play concert music during the fall as well as the rest of the year. Band is a class. Marching Band is what the class does after school. We do not hold sports against students who cannot march. Q. I am not sure my student can fit band classes into his/her schedule for four years. There are so many required classes that they must take. What do I do? A. Students that plan their 4-year schedule now are capable of taking four years of band and still easily getting all of the necessary classes. Also, students who participate in marching band for four years may waive the physical education credit, which creates an open space in their schedule! Q. My student is really apprehensive of joining the band in high school - maybe even scared. What do I do? A. There is no reason to be scared. The band students, parents, and staff are all friendly people that wish to have your student be part of the program. It becomes a family atmosphere and students are very comfortable by the time they get back from Band Camp. Tell your student that they need to try it for a semester and then re-evaluate the situation. Rarely do students change their mind once they have tried it! Besides, as parents, you purchased some very expensive instruments and now that your student is getting to be a good player, we don't want them to quit! Encourage your student to continue on this very exciting and fun activity. They will learn a lot, too. Q. What about grades, time, rehearsals, etc.? How do we make it work? A. Students will learn how to budget their time! Typically, students learn how to manage this time problem to their advantage. Time and time again the students will tell us that they have their best grades during marching season because they have to budget their time and get their homework done before practice begins. Their grades have actually gone up because of their involvement in marching band and the high expectaions of their peers and the staff! They make it work and it works to their benefit! The time involved is actually less than a varsity sport. High school takes everything to the next level in time and commitment. Q. How do I get into the band program? What about auditions, etc.? A. Auditions will be done at each middle school during the week starting March 30. Auditions will consist of an etude (a practice piece) which will be given to the students prior to the auditions, major scales from memory (the ones worked on in class at the middle school), and sight-reading. Mr. Schreiber will come to the schools to do the auditions during school hours. Audition results will be sent to each middle school to be posted. We use auditions only for chair placement - we accept anyone willing to be part of our organization and to work hard at it! Color guard auditions will be done a bit differently, at a different time to be announced later. If your student wishes to try out for color guard AND be in band, they need to audition for both! Percussion will begin meeting sometime in April to start preparing students for drum line. Typically, they are placed where they will be the most successful - again, we will fit everyone in to a position. Q. How can I contact Mr. Schreiber or the Band Boosters? A. Mr. Schreiber may be contacted at the school at his office, or through email. His email address is listed on the webpage www.milfordbandparents.com under the "Band Council" link, executive board and committees. The Band Boosters, known as the "Milford Band Parents, Inc." are available through email on the same webpage under the Band Council link, executive board and committees.