Veterans Day 2024

Students,

• Remember that our performance goals are (1) to celebrate our community’s veterans while (2) having fun making music together. As long as you are being thoughtful, focused, and working towards those goals, you are sure to have a wonderful time. However, any students who are not being thoughtful, not focused, or not working towards those goals will no longer be able to participate and will have to be removed from the group by their teacher.
• Our program will be held on Monday, November 11th at 9:30 in the morning. Because of space we can only invite families with veteran guests to attend. Don’t worry if your family can’t come, Mr. Doublestein will send everyone a video of your entire performance.
• Students should wear red, white, or blue clothing to celebrate our country during this program. The more patriotic the better 🙂
• Make sure you go to the bathroom BEFORE the performance… not DURING the performance… thank you…
• Don’t forget that the audience will be watching you from the moment you enter the gym until the moment you leave. This means you’re performing the ENTIRE time. Make sure that you display your best behavior as you represent our school well in front of our guests.
• Do your best to freeze after each song (no silliness on the last note) and look to the director for instructions on what to do next. Try to break the bad habit of talking as soon as a song ends.
• You should be silent between songs, respectfully listening to and enjoying the other elements of the program. Ignore anyone around you who is talking.
• Performances are exciting, and it’s normal for your bodies to want to wiggle when you’re excited. However, due to our limited space it’s very important that you stay in your spot for the entire program. You will feel squished, but that’s a sacrifice I’m sure you can handle, especially when you compare it to the sacrifices our veterans have made for all of us. Keeping calm and positive will go a long way in making this an enjoyable experience for everyone.
• Try not to look at the screen except when you need help remembering the words or the motions. Most of the time you should be looking at the director and at the audience. You should also make sure you’re always listening to one another and to the background music so that your singing stays together with the steady beat.
• Remember that your body language sends a message. Crossed arms, hand in pockets, and frowns communicate to the audience that you don’t want to be there. On the other hand, good posture and big smiles convey a readiness to perform at your best.
• Always sing with your singing voice. Don’t use a talking voice, or a whisper voice, or a yelling voice, or a funny voice, or a screeching voice. A performance like this is about the group, and we want everyone’s singing voices to blend together as one. Remember that our combined songs will be sung by almost 550 students, so there’s no need to yell 🙂
• Finally, have fun! This is an experience that only comes once a year, and it’s important that you enjoy moments like these. Remember that you don’t have to be perfect, and this isn’t a competition. It’s ok to make mistakes as long as you’re trying your best 🙂 Work together to do something great, and let your preparation shine. I’m looking forward to it!