Week of December 12
2024 Band Trip — New York City
The votes are in, and we are traveling to New York City over spring break in 2024! It was a close race, but the votes, along with comments on pricing, determined that NYC was the right choice.
We will be hosting an informational meeting on this Thursday, December 15th, at 7pm in the Oshkosh West O-Room. Please enter through door #26 which will lead you right into the O-Room. This meeting is purely informational; no one will be obligated to travel by attending.
The trip is open to all students who will be enrolled in a band class at West next school year and their families. This is a totally optional trip; everyone is encouraged to travel with us, but no one is required.
At the meeting, we will share a tentative itinerary, tentative costs, and fundraising options. Following the meeting, we will begin a fundraiser that will run for the next several weeks. More information will be available on our fundraising page.
Don’t let money be an issue! We have had many students pay for their entire trip with fundraising! If you are interested in traveling with us but may have financial barriers, please attend the meeting and learn how we can make it work for your family.
If you are unable to attend the meeting, we will be able to share meeting materials the following day. More information will also be available on our trip page.
See you on Thursday at 7pm in the Oshkosh West O-Room!
Scheduling for 2023-2024
It’s hard to believe it but this week, students will be shown how to schedule for next school year! We encourage all currently freshmen, sophomore, and junior band students to enroll in a band class for next year. We’ve all had a lot of fun and made so much progress — we’d love to see that continue!
It’s generally easy for our band students to keep band in their schedules while also taking their required courseload and other elective options! Though it’s certainly not required, we also encourage our students to take a second band class or choir class as their schedules allow. We LOVE having older students in the younger bands to help the younger students’ growth and the older students’ leadership and musical skills.
Click here for a sample schedule showing required classes and how students can keep band in their schedules
Click here for a sample of students who have successfully kept music in their schedules while maintaining a rigorous course load (Did you know that 5 of the 2022 valedictorians were band students?)
Click here to see how staying in band can help you GPA and ACT scores
Click here to see how many students are involved in athletics, classes, and activities outside of band
Basketball Pep Bands
Basketball season begins soon and that means we begin our second pep band season! Call time in the West band room is 6:45, and we’ll begin playing before the Varsity games around 7:00, depending on the timing of the JV game that precedes the Varsity game. For most games, we expect to play for pregame and halftime. We expect the halftime performance to be over between 8:00 and 8:15. A list of basketball pep band assignments can be found here.
When we play halftime, students may sit in the student section or pep band section during the first half but should be back in the pep band section with two minutes left on the clock before halftime to prepare for the second performance. The uniform for these games is West or blue and white gear or the student section theme.
Band-o-Rama — December 17, 2022
We are excited to continue our new tradition of having all 700+ district band students perform at Band-o-Rama!
This year’s performance will be on this coming Saturday, December 17th, at 6pm in the Oshkosh North Fieldhouse. Due to fire code, each student we are asking each student to bring only 2-3 audience members. Please let us know if you’d like to bring more, as we may be able to accommodate that as well. (There will be no tickets this year.) The event will also be recorded and a video will be shared following the performance.
Due to the magnitude of the performance, we will have a required rehearsal in the fieldhouse prior to the performance. Click here for a map of North HS. Below is the high school schedule for the day:
12:40 pm Arrive at North and report to homerooms
1:00 pm 6-12 rehearsal
1:30 pm 7-12 rehearsal
2:00 pm Combined Wildcat, Spartan, and Concert Bands rehearsal
2:30 pm Combined High School rehearsal
3:00 pm Combined Wind Ensemble and Varsity Band rehearsal (Wildcat, Spartan, and Concert Bands students dismissed)
3:30 pm Wind Ensemble and Varsity Band students dismissed
5:30 pm call time to homerooms
6:00 pm Performance
For concert dress, all high school students will wear concert black. Concert black can include black dress pants, black slacks, an all-black skirt that extends below the knee, an all-black dress, an all-black dress shirt, or an all-black blouse. All students should wear all-black shoes. If wearing pants, students should also wear LONG black socks. As this is a more formal occasion, please do not wear t-shirts, hoodies, leggings, or shorts.
If you need assistance in acquiring any of these items, please contact me as soon as possible. Looking like a unified ensemble is an important component of our presentation!
Band-o-Rama Volunteers
We will need lots of volunteers to help make Band-o-Rama a huge success! The following volunteer positions are needed. Position descriptions are available here. Please sign up on our Volunteer page. Thank you for your assistance!
Saturday, December 17th (Morning)
Chair, Stand, and Percussion Placement (8:00am to 10:00am)
Homeroom Monitors (MS: 10:30am to 1:45pm, HS: 12:30 to 3:45pm)
Saturday, December 17th (Before Concert)
Homeroom Monitors (5:15pm to 6:50pm)
Ushers (5:15pm to 7:00pm)
Saturday, December 17th (After Concert)
Tear-Down (7:00pm to 8:00pm)
Holiday Stocking Stuffer Ideas
The holiday season is here and your student would love to get a few upgrades this year! Below is a list of items that might help your student become a better musician. If you have any questions about specific brands, please let us know!
All Music Students
step-up instrument
private lessons (scholarships available)
app store gift card for music apps
folding music stand for home practice
professional instrument cleaning or maintenance
instrument stand
solo/ensemble sheet music
music store gift cards
local symphony tickets
music-related clothing
Woodwind Players
cleaning swab
step-up mouthpiece
step-up barrel (clarinet)
step-up ligature
reed case
reeds
neck strap
cork grease
Brass Players
step-up mouthpiece
brass mutes
valve oil
slide grease
mouthpiece case
polishing cloth
Percussionists
sticks and mallets
practice pad
practice snare drum or mallet instrument
drumset
Grading and Make-Up Procedures
Are you curious about how grades are determined? Click here for more information!
Do you have to miss a pep band performance? Students who have a school-related activity are excused from the pep band performance. Students missing for any other reason must make up the performance to gain the points. Students wishing to be excused for a school-related activity should fill out this form prior to the date of the performance.
Do you have to miss a concert or parade performance? All students missing a concert or parade performance for any reason must make up the performance to earn the points.
View make-up procedures here. Please contact Mr. Singer or Mr. Wilson with questions.
Important Upcoming Dates
December 13 at 7:00pm (call time is 6:45pm) — WHITE Basketball Pep Band
December 17 from 12:40 to 3:30 (tentative) — Band-o-Rama Rehearsals (All High School Band Students)
December 17 at 6:00pm (call time is 5:30pm) — Band-o-Rama Concert (All District Band Students)
January 3 at 7:00pm (call time is 6:45pm) — BLUE Basketball Pep Band (Eighth Grade Night)
January 6 at 7:00pm (call time is 6:45pm) — WHITE Basketball Pep Band