westernbands.net

The Kaleidoscope Winterguard will perform at State Competition at SVSU on Saturday, April 2, 2005 at 4:08 PM. Throughout the morning and early afternoon there will be Indoor Percussion Line performances and from 4:00 PM until 9:45 PM there are Winterguard performances. There is a cost to get in ($12 per person). Go and support your friends! Go Guard!

Congratulations to all the WHS Band students that participated in State Solo & Ensemble Festival at Central Michigan University on Saturday, March 19, 2005. EVERYONE did a great job! click read more to see the results.

Congratulations to The WHS Concert Choir and Select Ensemble who both received Overall Division I's in the festival performances on Friday, March 4, 2005. More information here.

On Thursday, Februrary 24, 2005 at approximately 1:05 PM the electrical power supplying Western High School and most of the Megalopolis of Auburn and the surrounding community was interrupted until approximately 2:10 PM. This, of course, had to occur during the only rehearsal Symphonic Band would have in a nearly two-week span, causing much frustration, lamentation and gnashing of (respective) teeth among the students and director. The exact cause of the disturbance has been tracked down...

Congratulations to all the Western High School students that participated in MSBOA District 5 Solo & Ensemble Festival. WHS was well represented by both your performance and your behavior! I am proud of all of you! See below for all the results.

The Western High School Jazz Band was awarded First Runner-Up for the 'Best Band' Award at the Annual Central Michigan University/Phi Mu Alpha Jazz Festival on Friday, February 18, 2005. The group competed in class A along with 14 other bands. Congratulations!

Recently, the web sites for the bands of all the major divisions of the military have been added to our web links area. These sites all have recordings and information available and are a great resource for information on joining these amazing organizations. All students are encouraged to investigate this possibility. Also, there are excellent recordings available in MP3 format of a wide range of band, jazz band, rock and choral music available from these sights - including pieces that we have performed! Please take a few minutes to check them out - links are in the Web Links area of our site.

ABC 12 News is reporting that a freshman member of the drumline has been injured in a possible student-to-student hazing incident. This has forced the school district to temporarily suspend band director, J.C. Coughlin, with pay during the investigation.



"One freshman claims because he was late for band practice, a senior band member forced him to do too many push-ups, resulting in a fractured bone in his arm."



"It's unclear if the push-ups caused the fracture in the boy's arm."



UPDATE 2/9/05: According to recent news reports, The SHS Band director is back 'on the podium' and no student has received disciplinary action in the incident.

There are two upcoming concerts featureing Percussion Ensembles in the area. First on February 10 at Freeland High School, The CMU Percussion Ensemble will perform. Second on February 26 at the Midland Center for the Arts, the Percussion Works Project and The Resonators will perform. Click below for more information.

Considering Studying music in college? Here is a $1000 scholarship that you can apply for from Marching Show Concepts (link). The deadline is February 11, 2005.

ABC12 is reporting that water pipes at Western have burst, damaging ceiling tiles and some office equipment, resulting in a cost of $15,000 in repair. The good news is school will open as scheduled on Monday, January 10. The whole story can be found here.

Everybody! Everybody! Please come help me with my Eagle Scout Project, December 27 thru December 29. (December 30th if needed). It is at St. James School in Bay City 1pm to 6pm daily.



--Gilles



Click below for more details...

The Western High School Band will be traveling to Florida in December, 2005 to perform at Disney World and have a bunch of fun! I have created a webpage for you to access any documents that are handed out in class and keep up with the latest information. The link is on the left in the Main Menu -> 'Disney 2005 Info'. Check it out!



UPDATE 12/14: here is a link to a flyer from Disney that gives a brief description of one of the things we'll do.

A student from John Glenn passed away recently. This article was in the Bay City Times. Very touching.



"The band students admired him for his talents as a musician, as well as everything he was doing in battling his health."

Okay, I'm having an Eagle Scout Project this weekend (Nov. 20 & 21) at Bigalow Park. If you don't know where that is, it's near the Riverwalk on that little island with the Boys and Girls Club on it. Simply put, I NEED YOUR HELP. It's Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM each day, and you can come for however long as possible. I can't have TOO many people, though, so send a personal message my way or IM me (jupiteradpt) first. This would be GREATLY appreciated.

The band t-shirts, sweatshirts, and baseball shirts should be ready for pick-up at school on Monday November 8th.



The fleece jackets had to be special ordered and will be ready by November 16th.



Thank you all for your patience. Terri Scheuerlein

Congratulations and thank you to all band members that sold Entertainment Books this year as part of our annual fundraiser. The Westernbands sold 620 Entertainment Books which resulted in a profit of over $5500 for students' accounts! Please read more >>>

Western Band Parents Council is sponsoring a Homecoming Tailgate Party on Friday, October 1, 2004.



4:30 pm to time of the homecoming parade (approximately 5:45 pm) in the choir room.



The tailgate party is for all current WHS Marching Band students and their families PLUS current WMS 8th grade band students and their families.



Each family should bring a dish to pass which will serve 12-15 people.



Meat, beverages, and table service will be provided.



If you have any questions please contact Terri Scheuerlein at 671-9134.



HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!!!!

There will be a tailgate party for parents of WHS marching band members this Friday, September 17th. This tailgate is informal and will be held in the parking lot behind the band room. It will start at 6 PM.



Anyone who would like to participate should bring their own food and chairs. This will be a chance for band parents just to sit and talk and HAVE FUN. This IS NOT a function of the WBPC.



If you have any questions please give any of the Scheuerleins (Terri, Jared, or Amanda) a call at 671- 9134.

All parents have taught their children how to speak, how to read, how to write, how to add… they almost seem like natural extensions of our own abilities. As children become students and start to learn more advanced mathematical concepts or grammar or history, most parents find it equally easy to “tutor” their son or daughter in their schoolwork because most parents have studied these subjects in great detail over the course of their own schooling. When it comes to band, however, some - if not most - parents feel inadequate in “helping” their student along in the learning process. Please understand… this is a totally normal and understandable feeling in this situation. In order to combat this uneasy feeling, below is a list of ways that parents can help their child to be successful in band.

The instruments that are rented by most parents are called “beginner’s instruments.” They are called so because they are just that - an instrument built to take the abuse of a beginning student while providing them with a low-cost basic instrument to learn on. However, they frequently are not the best instruments to continue playing on. Students who play in High School Band should strongly consider purchasing a higher quality instrument.

This information has been published in our handbook in the past, but now it is published here.

We are proud to announce the formation of the WHS Band Alumni Mail-List. This list will allow our 'older' family members to communicate with each other via email. The list is moderated for membership and content. In order to subscribe, just fill out the form on this page.

It is a proven fact that kids who have musical education perform better in school. This is exemplified at Western High School because five of the top ten are in band, including the top three.



Katie Skrocki, Christy Reder, Nate LaFave, John Magaña, and Katie Miller have all been in band for seven years.

Congratulations to John Magana who has been selected to conduct the Symphonic Band in their rendition of "The Rabbit of Seville" in Celebration 2004.



Congratulations to David Shephard who has been selected to conduct the Concert Band in their rendition of "The Pirates of the Caribbean" in Celebration 2004.



A special THANK YOU to all those that auditioned: Nathan LaFave, Mike Nuffer, Alyson McCloy, Titiana Zapata and Janel Rutzen. All of you did an excellent job and it was very difficult selecting a conductor.

Ms. Bell will be finishing her student teaching this Friday, April 30. I thought you should know in case you wanted to do anything... special. :)