Muscle Shoals Marching Band
2020 Football Season Covid Plans
Band camp success!
-What a wonderful week spent together with our band faMily. It was much needed for all the stakeholders in our band program. While so many things are indeed different, some things still felt the same. Hearing the music and watching the auxiliary routines was a breath of fresh air this week. The staff and students have a renewed sense of hope and the drive to move forward and make this happen.
The safety protocols, revisited and redefined
-It is important for all of us to understand the safety protocols we will follow. There is no room for error and no tolerance for not following the safety rules. These are the things the staff expect from our students and they will follow them or not be able to participate. It’s that simple.
I want the parents and students to know our goal for the 2020 season is to have no band student exposed during a band rehearsal. This is going to be a tall order knowing infections are imminent, but if we follow the guidelines at least we know we are doing all we can to make that happen.
-The band program is going above and beyond the minimum safety requirements asked of us. It how we do things and why wouldn’t safety be a priority for us.
-6/15 is a number you need to remember. 6 feet for 15 minutes. It’s the standard being used right now and the one we will follow unless new guidelines come to us. MOst of the time we are going with a larger distance than 6 feet actually. On the field and in the classrooms we are usually a minimum of 8 feet apart. Exposure to the virus is now defined as within 6 feet for more than 15 minutes. This is with or without a mask. Let me repeat, with or without a mask.
-I want to ask students and parents for their help outside of our rehearsals as well. The safety outside of rehearsal will also greatly affect the bands success as well. I am not gonna tell any parent how they should parent of course. However,I will ask on behalf of the band program we all love to please try to be safe outside of school. Student behavior outside of band will definitely affect us.
-I am 100% convinced that if we lose students to quarantine and to illness, or if we lose band entirely, it will be because of what happened outside our rehearsal. Students, please take care of yourselves and stay well by using safe behavior. Parents we appreciate your help with this as well
Band picture will be this Thursday, August 13 at 1:30 band time
A/B schedule
4th BLOCK during A/B school schedules
-Upon entering the band hall, all students must be wearing a mask.
-students coming to school for just rehearsal will go straight to the field
-In the event of rain, band students will go to the auditorium and sit in red seats socially distanced until either rain stops or another plan presents itself.
COMPETITION SEASON/SPECIAL PERFORMANCES
-There will be no after school rehearsals planned for the 2020 marching season.
-There will be no competitions for the marching band in 2020.
-There will be no pep rallies in 2020.
-Parades are still uncertain.
-SPECIAL PERFORMANCES
Tuesday Nights—October 6th and 20th put on your calendars. This will be a free community event.
FOOTBALL GAME PROCEDURES
-The entire band will perform an elaborate PRE GAME performance starting at 6:35pm. This will contain our normal halftime music, plus some additional pregame music, the national anthem, and possible formation that involved the football team running onto the field.The band will exit after pregame where the pep band will go to the stands, and the rest of the band to the band room to be dismissed.
-In the stands: There will only be a band consisting of 50ish members (pep band) at football games for the 2020 season. This band will be all seniors and a rotating group of other students.
-AWAY GAMES- We will take a pep band consisting of roughly 30 students (however many we can fit onto two buses safely). There will be no full band performances at away games.
Performance attire:
There will be no traditional marching band uniforms worn in 2020. Instead, the band will be wearing band polo shirts with band ball caps and face coverings. The colorguard and majorettes will wear the costumes that were ordered for the show purposes.
All of these outfits belong to the students and are taken home and washed and sanitized.
Band Fees:
Marching band fees have been reduced to $250 first semester and $75 second semester to help families during this time.
We ask this year that 100% of the payments be done online. You can find that link on the Muscle SHoals City Schools Website. After the cancellations from last year, we realized how much easier it is to deal with that information quickly if we have it online than through paper receipts. If you feel strongly about the paper payment, simply pay your fees to Christina at the front desk of the office and she will get that info to us. We are doing our best to not exchange a lot of paper products this year from parents to students to teachers.
Fundraisers:
The marching band will still participate in the Snap Raise fundraiser like the past two years.
