Frequently Asked Questions
So what is this high school band stuff all about, and is it worth doing?
Short answer - YES. For a really good answer to that question, click on the link below to watch a
short video about the Mighty Mustang Band. Although the video was done a few years ago, it is just as applicable today
as the day it was made, plus you will hear from real band parents and members of the Mighty Mustang Band. They'll tell
you in their own words, totally unscripted, why being in the Mighty Mustang Band is a great educational and life experience.
Click here to
watch the video. It's about 10 minutes long and well worth watching.
What is summer band camp?
The band begins holding summer practices well before the
start of school. These practices
usually begin in late July/early August. A
typical day's schedule might include an early morning drill practice and daytime
sectionals until mid-afternoon. To view/print a detailed schedule of the Summer
Rehearsals Click here
Many of the kids stay at school for the full day by choice.
They may go to lunch or just hang out with other band kids during their
"down" time. Their section
leaders may also plan social activities for their own specific sections during
the camp days.
Each kid is wise to bring a thermos or "camelback" of water and
sunglasses, and to wear sunscreen!
Can band parents
attend football pep rallies at school?
You sure can! In fact, parents who have been around
for a while say that these pep rallies are great fun to watch. The pep
rally dates and times are published in the Pearce PTA newsletter/website, or you can
call the school for the dates.
What happens on
football Fridays?
The kids may not even come
home from school that afternoon. They have practice, they eat dinner,
they get dressed in their uniforms, and then they load the buses.
Your kid can pack their own dinner or you can take them a
quick dinner. Also, for the last
few years a band mom has arranged for local restaurants to provide meals for the
kids. The meals are usually around
$5, and you can purchase meals for some or all of the games.
You sign up for these meals at the beginning of football season (watch the website for details
and order forms), or look for our sign-up table at the Band BBQ.
A typical schedule for a home game looks like the following:
==============================
Sept. 7 Home vs. The Colony
4:30 Trucks need to be at PHS
4:30 Call time for students on "B" field
4:30 - 5:00 Rehearsal on "B" field
5:00 Load trucks
5:00 - 5:45 Kids eat dinner in the PHS Cafeteria
5:45 - 6:10 Kids change into uniforms and have inspection
6:10 Load buses
6:15 Buses depart PHS for Eagle-Mustang Stadium
6:30 Approx. arrival time at Eagle-Mustang Stadium
6:50 MMB marches around stadium track and enters stands
7:30 Kick-off time
10:15 Approx. time for end of game
10:45 Approx. departure time from Eagle-Mustang stadium
11:00 Approx. arrival time back at PHS
11:00 - 11:30 Kids change out of uniform
11:30 MMB meeting
11:45 Approx. dismissal time
==============================
Is there a tailgate
before the home football games?
There is
a Pearce High School tailgate before every home football game. It is held
in the west parking lot of the Eagle-Mustang Stadium, in front of the ticket
area. Each tailgate is sponsored by a different school group, including
the PABC. They begin serving food at 6:30 P.M. The tailgates are
free to all Pearce families.
What are Big/Little
Sisters/Brothers?
During Homecoming season, kids can elect to participate. Once "signed up" each kid is assigned
or picks a big/little sister/brother. Boys
are paired with girls, and underclassmen are paired with upperclass band students. One person in each pair will know their partner, but it will be a
secret to the other.
Once the pairs are chosen, the two partners often
give little gifts to each other. The
gifts aren't meant to be excessive; usually they are silly tokens or candy.
They also write notes to each other.
This exchange will take place all the way up until Homecoming. The Thursday before Homecoming
weekend, the brother/sister pair then reveal themselves to each other, and exchange a homecoming mum
or garter. They wear their garter or mum to school on that Friday.
What happens with
band during Homecoming?
The band, of course, has their usual Friday afternoon and
evening commitments for the football game.
The kids are not allowed to wear their mums with their band uniforms.
Many of the kids will choose to go to the Homecoming dance
on Saturday. If they are going with
a large group, they may custom design group t-shirts to be worn to school on
Friday.
What in the world is a Homecoming Mum or
Garter? (This question is for non-Texans and new band families.)
Mums and garters are worn by the kids to celebrate
homecoming. The girls wear them as corsages and the boys wear them as garters on
their arms. The corsages have big flowers (mums) in the middle and long ribbons
for tails. They are usually covered with lots of decorations
and trinkets. Girls receive mums and boys receive garters.
You can order these mums already made from the Pearce PTA "Mum Store" (check
out the Pearce PTA website for deatils), local grocery
stores and craft shops. You can
also make your own mums. Many craft
stores sell all of the supplies you'll need.
Each kid will need at least one mum or garter for their
big/little sister/brother. If they
have a date for Homecoming, they will need a second mum or garter for their
date.
The mums and garters for the dates are also exchanged during
school on Friday of Homecoming weekend.
What is the party
that is held after each football game?
These parties are meant solely for the band kids.
They are held each week at the home of a band family who has donated their
house. For security reasons, the location of the party is not announced, and
maps are not distributed in the band hall
until after each football game. Each party is well-chaperoned by band
parents recruited by the host parents. The parties serve as a great
release for the kids after the games, and they enjoy watching the tape of the evening's
halftime performance. Click here for the after-party rules and guidelines.
Pizza and sodas are arranged by the host parents
for the kids. Each kid is asked to contribute approximately $3 towards the food.
The parties begin immediately after the kids return to the band hall and finish unloading,
hanging up uniforms, and putting away their instruments; and usually last until between 12:30 and 1:00 A.M.
These late
parties seem to work best when parents combine their efforts and carpool groups
of kids from the band hall to the party, and then from the party to home.
What band fees can we expect to pay?
The school district does not provide all of the funding that is needed to
support a quality band program such as ours. Fundraising activities and
direct payments by parents/students must cover the additional expenses.
You can expect three different fees:
- "Registration" fee is applied to expenses such as
gloves, shoes, uniform cleaning, and refreshments during marching season.
The amount paid each year varies depending on the number of kids in the band
and whether your kid marches, is in the color guard, or is a drum major.
This fee is required for all band and color guard students, including color
guard students not in the band. You will pay this at registration in August
during summer band camp.
- "Operations" fee is applied to expenses such as
supplies, staff assistance, entry fees, clinicians, and student development.
This fee is required for all band and color guard students, including color
guard students not in the band. You will pay this fee at registration in
August during summer band camp.
- "Spring trip" fee is applied to the transportation,
accommodations and other costs associated with the spring trip. In order for
deposits to be placed on the various reservations, trip fees are paid in
installment during the school year and must be paid in full prior to the
trip at a set deadline. To aid in spreading out this cost, you may make
partial payments at any time before payments are due.
Every fourth year the band takes a
"big trip" out of the state, thus the trip fee is much larger during that
year, usually costing about $1500 per student. In "small trip" years the fee
has not exceeded $450.
To help keep the costs of fees down, students and parents raise funds by
participating in specific band fundraisers such as raising money for the
March-a-thon, soliciting items for the annual auction, and getting businesses to
sponsor band photos in the football program.
How can we participate in band fundraisers?
- Find a corporate sponsor for the PABC.
The sponsor’s name will be listed on
the band website.
- Find a business to sponsor one of the band's photos in
the fall football programs.
- Raise funds for the MMB's annual March-a-Thon! This
exciting event takes place in mid-fall and is intended to provide an
opportunity for all band students to help raise funds for the MMB. The
concept is simple: we will march up to 10 miles, and our students will
solicit donors to sponsor them. Everyone will march - whether or not they
have solicited any sponsors. Therefore we encourage all students to seize
this opportunity. For detail information about this exciting event, watch
for a details each year.
- Participate in the annual auction (our biggest
fundraiser to date) by securing donations of items to be sold at the
auction, by obtaining monetary donations or corporate sponsorships, by
selling raffle tickets, and by working the event.
- Donate items for the annual Mighty Mustang Market
(garage sale). This event is held in
the spring.
Are scholarships available?
Absolutely! Scholarships are available to help our students receive
individual lessons and towards spring trip fees. It is important that both
you and your child have demonstrated a willingness to help with fundraisers
and/or band events in order to be considered for these scholarships. You may
view/print/download a Private Lesson Financial Aid Application by clicking
here. There are no scholarships
or financial aid available for registration or operations fees.
Contact the PABC Scholarships Director for more information.
What spring trips do the bands take?
Every fourth year the band takes a big trip to an out-of-state performance.
Past trips have been to New York, San Diego, Orlando, and Washington, D.C.
The trip usually costs about $1500 per student.
For the other years, the bands travel to competitions
within Texas.
In "small trip" years the fee has not exceeded $450
How do I know who is
on the PABC Board?
Click here to view the current list of Board members. It contains a wealth of band
information. You can find the names and contact numbers for all current board
members on this page.
What band
competitions are coming up during school year, and what time commitments can we
expect for them?
To get the dates and times for
competitions, visit the website at Calendar - Contests or click here.
Marching Competitions
The first marching competition is
usually held in October. It is judged in a preliminary/finals format which means that each band first performs in
a preliminary round, then the bands that are judged the best proceed on to a final
performance.
The band will meet at school well before the preliminary
round to allow for preparation and travel. The directors will announce
the meet time as soon as possible.
Since we are sure to make it into the finals performance (being the
superb band that we are), the band will probably not be returning to school
until late in the evening.
The UIL Region Marching Contest is normally in
mid-October and is held at Mesquite Memorial Stadium.
This is a region-level performance consisting of
a single performance. Again, the
specific meet times for this event will be announced by the directors.
The Area Marching Contest is held
every two years for 4A schools and is held at
Mesquite Memorial Stadium. 4A
schools compete in odd number years. Bands
proceed to this competition if they make a first division during the
UIL Region Marching Contest in October.
Two or three bands from each area are chosen to compete in the State
Marching Contest. The last 4A State Marching Contest was held in San Antonio in 2005.
This competition is a preliminary/finals format again.
A band's performance at the Area Marching Contest determines if it will proceed to the State
contest during a
4A competition year.
Auditions and Contests For Individuals and Small Groups
Phase I Region Band auditions are held in December.
All members of Wind Ensemble and
Symphonic Band must audition; auditions are optional, but recommended, for
Concert Band students.
Band members with exceptional performances will advance to Phase II of
the auditions, to be held after school during December.
Band members who are actually chosen for Region Band can expect
rehearsals on the Friday evening and Saturday morning and afternoon of the
Region Band weekend. The concert by
the Region Band will then be held on that Saturday evening.
Auditions for Area
Band are scheduled in January. The
best performers will advance to State Band.
The Chamber Music Festival
is normally scheduled for a Saturday in February.
Concert Band Competitions
The UIL Contest
is in
April. This contest will take place during the day, with Wind Ensemble
also possibly performing during the evening.
All concert bands participate in this event.
All members of the concert bands have an opportunity to travel with the bands to an
out of town contest/performance. This trip usually occurs in April. There is an additional
cost to the students to go on this trip - so students are not required, but all are encouraged
to attend. For more information on spring band trips see the PHS Band Trips
All other band commitments are
listed in the summer newsletter that is sent to all band members from the PABC and
will be reconfirmed by the band directors as the events approach.
Important dates/times and directions to all away events can also be found on our web site in the Band Life section.
How are any schedule
changes communicated to the band members?
The directors work very hard to repeatedly communicate any
changes to all members during drill practices, band classes, and other
rehearsals. Schedule changes will only be communicated by the directors
themselves to the students and will be distributed to Band Parents via emails. Feel free to call
the Directors at Pearce if you have any schedule
questions.
What is the Meyerson
Concert?
The original Meyerson Concert
came about as a result of a generous donation by several band parents.
Subsequent ticket sales have enabled us to continue this tradition each
year. A portion of the ticket sales is also awarded as a scholarship to a
graduating senior who plans to major in music.
The concert will take place in the evening some time during
the spring. All bands will perform. Band parents can purchase tickets for a reasonable price.
What is the year-end
Band Banquet?
The Band Banquet is the
finale to another exciting year. It is a dinner/dance where we celebrate the
graduation of our seniors and wish them well as they head off to new adventures. Dates are
not necessary for this event and the dress code is Semi-formal. The evening typically includes
a dinner, slide show of the year's activities (including a senior tribute), presentation of
awards, introduction of next year's band officers and drum majors, and the announcement of the winners
of the PABC Meyerson Scholarship and the Sara Betz Scholar Award.
Parents are invited and encouraged to attend the dinner and presentation portion of the evening.
After dinner, a dance is held for the kids.
How can I help????
By now you've figured out how active
band life can be. The PABC board helps the band directors support all of the
activities of the band! There are always numerous ways for band parents to
become involved. In addition to serving on the PABC Board, we always need parents
to help with transporting and setting up the band gear at football games. You too can
be one of the MMB's "Movers & Shakers".
Parents are also needed to chaperone football games and contests.
We'll need assistance with this year's annual MMB March-a-Thon! Join us for an exciting
day of fun and community spirit!
We always need lots of help preparing for the auction, our
largest fundraiser to date. We need
help securing items for sale at the auction, selling raffle tickets, setting up
the day of the auction, and more.
We need volunteers to help with the
Pearce tailgate party that we sponsor; our special "Jr High Night" orientation at
a home football game; and for the Band Banquet.
We also need volunteers to help organize this year's
Meyerson concert.
Getting involved with the band activities is a great way to
meet new folks and to support your kid in band.
Interested?
Contact this year's PABC board.
Come and join us!