All-District and All-State Band or Jazz Band
Your student will have an opportunity to try out for the All-District Band or Jazz Band. Those students chosen for the All-District bands will have the opportunity to try-out for the All-State bands. Your student should contact their director at the beginning of the school year to obtain information if they are interested. The music is generally available near the beginning of school and the tryouts are in late fall/early winter
This competition is hosted by Lee’s Summit West and Lee’s Summit High School. It will be held at LSW and LSHS. Students will perform with the band, in ensembles, and as soloists. We host the full bands and large ensembles at LSW. Soloists and small ensembles that receive a “1” rating will go on to the MSHSAA State Competition out of town. Hosting the district competition requires a small army of parent volunteers from the LSW music program. The list of volunteers includes registration staff, room monitors, stage hands, and concessions. It is a great opportunity to hear a lot of music. When you are scheduled to volunteer, care will be taken to ensure that you will have an opportunity to hear your own student perform.
Volunteering
Don’t stress over being a volunteer. Most volunteer needs in the music program are very easy and require very little time. You do not have to jump in with both feet and take over a Music Officer position to be a big help.
Generally, the biggest need for volunteers is to help a liaison or coordinator with a task. A lot of those tasks are during a time when you will already be at school to drop off or pick up your student. Hopefully, you will also be around to watch your student perform.
Volunteering can be as simple as attending the Music Parents meetings and stopping by during an event to see if anything needs to be done. The list below is a short explanation of a few of the marching season needs as well as the MSHSAA competition. There will be other needs throughout the year.
Uniform volunteers – A small team of parents helps the students into and out of their uniforms during football games (and competitions). A few parents will help setup the band room before students arrive. The remaining help is needed as the students dress and then as they put their uniforms away after the game/competition. These parents often travel with the band or as a group into the stadium. There are other uniform needs throughout the year such as helping with organization, fitting, ironing, checking uniforms in and out, etc.
Equipment – A small team of parents will gather equipment and water before each game. They will transport the equipment down to the football field. They will also assist the percussion section with their equipment. Parents will also be needed to help move equipment to and from the field at half time (This helps guarantee you a front row view on the track during the performance away from the screaming and horseplay in the bleachers.)
Hauling equipment – The Music Department has several trailers for hauling equipment. We usually need three to four volunteers to tow the trailers to the various events and competitions. There is always a need for help to load and unload the trailers. Our goal is always to have the students load and unload the majority of the equipment. However, early in the marching season we go through a trial and error period when trying to fit and organize that year’s equipment. It is good to have plenty of parent loaders to help with the process.
MSHSAA District Competition Volunteers – We will host a portion of the MSHSAA competition in the spring. We will need a lot of parent volunteers from the entire music program. Those positions involve helping to monitor performance rooms, stage set-up, concessions, giving directions to visitors, etc. We work to make the volunteers available to watch their own student’s performance. We also need a small team of volunteers leading up to the event to help organize the other volunteers.