General Info & FAQ
Here you will find all of the information given to you during the Welcome Meeting at the 2024 Show Reveal and the parent meeting in August at the end of band camp. We know it is a lot, so we hope you find this useful as a reference!
If you have any questions, please reach out to Sharon Wedemeyer - EBSO Secretary, New Family Mentor, and Senior parent at: secretary@gbemeraldbrigade.org. You can also always ask any other EBSO Board member, or any other Brigade parent. If they don't know they answer, they will know who to ask!
"Good to Know" Information & Common Questions
Pickups
Pickups after events, rehearsals, or shows will frequently be anywhere from 15-30 minutes after the actual posted end time. The students finish their work at the posted end time and then they will still need time to put their instruments & equipment away.
Monday Night Marching Band Rehearsals tend to be the exception to this, and parents are not only invited but encouraged to attend the last half hour. This helps the students get used to performing in front of crowds and you will get to watch the progression of their hard work!
Pickups after competitions, especially any that are further away like the Regionals competition at James Logan HS in Union City, will frequently be in the early morning hours. So you can ensure your student has battery life left on their phone to be able to arrange to pick them up, send them with an extra battery pack / portable charger they can use on the bus ride back to GBHS after the competition.
Instrument Repairs & Maintenance
All school instruments are assessed and sent for repairs and any needed maintenance at the end of each school year.
If your student is using a school instrument and repairs are needed during the school year, your student will need to talk to the inventory manager leadership student, as well as the Band Director. Depending on what is needed, your student may be assigned a new instrument to use or you will be given instructions on where to take it for the repair.
If the repair is needed due to negligence or the instrument was intentionally damaged, you will need to pay for the repair, otherwise it will be included in the repairs paid for by the EBSO. This assessment will be made by the Band Director in conjunction with the repair shop.
Winter Programs - 5th Period Classes
The Winter Percussion and Winter Color Guard programs are both a lot of fun and any student regardless of what they play during marching or concert bands, are able to participate! Many of the students will participate in the programs so they can expand their skills or learn new ones.
Both of these programs are classified as 5th period classes, so your student will need to be able to attend the rehearsals for the entire Spring semester, all the way through May. However, the rehearsals are fewer once their competitions are finished.
EBSO also requests an additional pledge (separate from and additional to the marching & concert band pledge from the beginning of the school year) from each participating family in order to help cover the costs of the programs. Winter Percussion and Color Guard both have their own budgets that are separate from the fall marching and spring concert budgets. All students are able to participate regardless of their family's ability to pledge. The pledge for the Winter programs is kept as low as possible, however, if your student is participating in one of the Winter programs and the additional pledge will stretch your budget too far, please reach out to Treasuruer@gbemeraldbrigade.org.
Communications
Band Diretor - Mrs. Lynn Lewis
Remind App
Mrs. Lewis only communicates to parents through the Remind app. Please download the app and ensure you are added to the current class. Be sure you have your notifications turned on!
Remind allows for push notifications from the app, it can also send you an email and/or text message.
Please reach out to communications@gbemeraldbrigade.org to receive this year's sign-up code.
EBSO
Weekly Newsletter
Remind App - as needed
EBSO communicates with families through a weekly newsletter sent at the beginning of the week. This is where you will find details on upcoming events, fundraisers, and all volunteer sign-ups will be announced with the sign-up linked. There will not be other emails during the week unless there is something critical that cannot wait until the following week. Please take the time to read the newsletter each week. Past newsletters can all be found in the EBSO Parent GoogleDrive - newsletter archive folder coming soon.
If you are not receiving them or would to add/change the email address being used for you, please reach out to communications@gbemeraldbrigade.org