Open House at North

Come to the North Campus open house on 9/10/09 at 7:00 p.m. There will be information available about our proposed Chicago trip in April, 2010.

Re Direct ->

We are now combining all North and South Campus Band information. Please visit us at: www.WBLbands.blogspot.com

It's Back . . . PEP BAND . . . but what does that mean?

Welcome to the 2008-2009 White Bear Lake Band year! The newest, and most pressing issue before us is athletic pep band. We have not had a pep band since the 2006-2007 school year so there many questions about how it works. This article will hopefully help clear up the information part of playing in pep band.

First of all . . . take a deep breath. Rest assured that the band directors have our students' best interest in mind. We want our students to stay physically healthy and academically strong through the athletic seasons. We will weigh every decision about pep band with this in mind.

Next, we follow the Minnesota Band Director’s Association guidelines regarding pep band participation. By pooling the combined experience of all of our State band directors we know what works and what doesn't. We will follow these guidelines to create a pep band experience that is in sync with schools across the state. To view this document for yourself, go to: http://www.mbda.org/documents/en/athletic.pdf

Now for the specifics:

• All South Campus band students and the North Winds students are expected to play at the home football games. If there are conflicts with a student's attendance at these games please describe them in writing to your band director. Those dates are: 9/19/08, 9/26/08, 10/10/08. Playoff schedules will be made available as the season progresses.
• All North Campus band students are invited to attend the fall football games, but only the North Winds students are required to attend.
• Pep band will support the following winter sports: Boy's Basketball, Girl's Basketball, Boy's Hockey, Girl's Hockey. There will be three home games for each of these four sports in which the pep band will attend. Out of those 12 games, each student at North and South will be expected to attend 6. We will divide students into equally balanced pep band squads and assign 6 games. If students have conflicts with the assigned date they should seek out a replacement substitute from the other squad. Attendance is taken at each game and as long as the student charts 6 games during the winter season, full credit will be given.
• Students can receive the Letterman's "W" for attend 15 pep band games. This requirement can be fulfilled over two years on one campus. Students who did not have pep band last year will be given credit towards their attendance this year. These students can letter by attending 7 games this year only.

Where are these games held and is transportation provided?

• Good question . . . ALL basketball and football games will be at the South Campus gym and students must provide their own transportation to these events. If playoff games are scheduled away, transportation will be provided from South Campus to these sites.
• The Boy's Hockey games are held at Aldrich Arena in Maplewood. Aldrich is located south of Hwy. 36 right on White Bear Ave. It is just south of the Maplewood community center and the Ramsey county fair grounds. Transportation will be provided from South Campus to Aldrich Arena and back. Students may choose to meet us there with parent transportation or a licensed driver.
• The Girl's Hockey games are held at the White Bear Lake Sports Center. WBL Sport Center is located midway between Otter Lake Rd. and White Bear Pkwy., south of Hwy. 96. Transportation is provided from South Campus for these events. We will follow the same expectations as the Boy's Hockey games in regards to transportation.

When will winter schedules be available?

• We take the time to communicate with each Varsity coach about preferences in band attendance. Once the coaches tell us the games they would really like us to be at, we build the schedule. Our goal is to have this schedule available in early to mid November.

We look forward to a great pep band season this year, and we know that we have the finest students in the school to represent us in these events.

Sandip Burman visits North Campus

Musical artist visits North Campus, Thursday, April 24, 2008.

Students experienced the art of Indian Sitar and Tabla playing.

Chicago Festival . . . Fast, Fun, Safe

How do you use this again?

The North Campus Bands performed well at the Heritage music festival in Chicago. The trip was fast, sleepless and fun. We arrived home safe and ready for the next adventure.

Chicago Trip Itinerary

Friday, April 4, 2008

Load for departure/ staggered arrival
12:00 p.m........................................... Low Brass & Low Woodwinds arrive
12:15.................................................. Percussion
12:20.................................................. All brass
12:30.................................................. All Woodwinds
1:00 p.m............................................. Pull away from North Campus

Dinner in route to Chicago............................. bring money for fast food

Arrival in Chicago
8:00 p.m............................................. check into Hotel
8:00 p.m............................................. Hotel time/ pool/ games
10:00 p.m........................................... In rooms
11:00 p.m........................................... Lights out

Saturday, April 5, 2008

6:30 a.m............................................. breakfast buffet
7:45 a.m............................................. depart for Heritage festival/ Niles West H. S.
8:25 a.m............................................. WBL Black warm up (Stonehenge, Belgian)
9:00 a.m............................................. WBL Black performance on Stage
10:10 a.m........................................... WBL Orange warm up (Solas Ane, Suncrest)
10:45 a.m........................................... WBL Orange performance on Stage
8:30- 11:45 a.m.................................. watch performances when not performing

Lunch at Navy Pier
12:00 p.m........................................... Navy pier time downtown Chicago
4:00 p.m............................................. depart for hotel
5:00 p.m............................................. downtime at hotel
change at hotel for medieval times (“casual nice”)
7:00 p.m............................................. depart for Medieval Times
7:30 p.m............................................. arrival at Medieval Times Castle
8:00 p.m............................................. groups are seated
8:30 p.m............................................. dinner and show
10:30 p.m........................................... Awards Ceremony, followed by a dance
Midnight............................................. depart for hotel
12:30 a.m........................................... lights out in hotel

Sunday, April 6, 2008

8:00 a.m............................................. breakfast buffet
9:00 a.m............................................. depart for White Bear Lake
.............................................. lunch along the way
4:30 p.m............................................. arrival at North Campus, WBL

3/31/08 Ted Mann Concert Hall

We will watch the weather for tonight's performance at the U of M's Ted Mann concert hall. If the Minnesota Twin's cancel their game tonight, we for sure will cancel our performance. Students will be informed via inter-com the status of the concert before they leave school today.

The concert starts at 7:00 p.m.

Students are asked to arrive by 6:15 p.m.

Great Jazz In DULUTH

The jazz students from WBL North had a great time at the 35th annual Head of the Lakes Jazz Fest at the University of Minnesota, Duluth. The students performed well and listen to many great performances. The featured artists were:

Jeff "Tain" Watts www.chambersoftain.com

and

Tom Harrell http://home.earthlink.net/~tomharrell/harrell.html