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.
