NYC REFUND DETAILS

 

Hello New York Trip families!

We are happy to report that you should be receiving a refund check the week after Labor Day.   Educational Tours (ET)

issued the school a lump sum check for the amount they have recovered so far.  The school district will issue

individual refunds for this installment. As indicated in the August 4th blog post, ET is waiting on the possibility

of recovering an additional $9,393.45 from one of the vendors.  If they receive those funds, that portion 

will be returned directly to you via a separate check from ET. 

IF YOU'VE HAD AN ADDRESS CHANGE SINCE APRIL, please email me your new address by Monday, August 24th:

ALLEGOEL@HOWELLSCHOOLS.COM  Everyone filled out a Google form this spring indicating who to make the 

check out to and where to mail the check.  IF none of your info has changed since April, you are all set!

REFUND BREAKDOWN:

$733.58 per person - refund check issued to you by Howell Schools week of September 8th.

$ 66.15 per person - amount that ET is hoping to still receive from one vendor.  IF they receive these funds, a 

check will be issued directly from ET to you.

NON-REFUNDABLE BREAKDOWN:

$ 36.33 - 3.5% service fee

$201.94 - non-refundable deposits and expenses

For those that purchased the travel insurance:

You will receive your refund along with non-insurance participants as stated above.  Your insurance will cover

a percentage of the cost that ET is NOT able to refund.  Once ET has closed our account, they will forward your

insurance claim to Travel Insured International.  After your claims have been filed, an insurance reimbursement

amount will be available and passed on to those that have travel insurance. 

Please let me know if you have any questions.  We are happy to have some definitive answers and good news

for you! - Laura

So, we have school tomorrow! (info about marching band, start of school and the New York money)

 

Hello Everyone! 

Let me start by saying THANK YOU to all the people, kids, parents, volunteers, staff and construction crews that helped us make band camp a STARK RAVING SUCCESS.  I think it's fairly safe to say now that I think we made it through without any you know what rearing its ugly head.  More than ever, this is a team effort that required everyone's compliance, cooperation, patience, and elbow grease.  I am SO proud of the kids.  

So as always with our program.. ON TO WHAT'S NEXT

Here we go!  I know there have been a lot of questions about what the heck is going on. Hopefully I can answer a few of them.  I want you to know, I am trying to keep you as informed as I possibly can, there are lots of things changing every day, so I will tell you what I know:

THE MOST IMPORTANT STUFF IS IN BOLD (and additional info/discussion/speculation will be regular font)

There is no marching band practice after school for at least this week and next week.  BUT marching band will exist again somewhere this year.

-We are trying to determine whether we wait until spring, do a little bit during the fall to keep it fresh, and how to involve perhaps the non marching band members.  For now until we get our sea legs underneath us, I am not going to stress everyone out by adding extra rehearsals when we have NEVER done anything like this before. 

-It is my utmost wish and intent to march again this year. When that is unfortunately is still up in the air.... As we all know about these times never guarantee, never say never.   Please bear in mind that whatever form marching band takes, it most likely will not be the marching band you are used to.  This could include splitting the band, waiting until spring, having each day band become a marching band.. everything is on the table.  I plan on creating something with the kids that will make as worthwhile experience as I possibly can WITHIN THE REALM OF SAFETY.

Do not bring your instruments the first week of school.

We are still trying to figure out the best way to get everyone geared up and set.  As you have found out, EVERYTHING takes longer, right down to assigning lockers, figuring out how to clean our room.. etc.  Don't worry, it will get better.

The band room will not be open the first day of school.  Please wait until your class time to come to the band room.

Don't worry everything will be solved in due time.  I will make sure YOU personally are taken care of, but wait until it is class time, can't have big crowds right?

Lots of you have schedule questions.. Those will be fixed or at least worked on the first day we have together.

I know this is a huge mess (TRUST ME).  It is going to take some time to sort it out.  Our biggest priority is keeping band on kids' schedules, and keeping the numbers in each band balanced,  KEEPING THE KIDS SAFE WHILE THEY ARE UNDER MY WATCH, and their mental health.  After that comes our normal primary goals of making them good musicians and good citizens.  You may not get to be in the band that you want to be in.  You may have to make some new friends.  Unfortunately, that is the way of things this year. 

The first New York Refund check is in our hot little hands.

That is confirmed.  It's the larger portion (over $100,000) that we will now be sending your way.  Estimates put you receiving it the week of labor day.  

Due to the nature of band and aerosols, etc, there are stricter guidelines in place for participation in band than in other classes at the school.  

Due to larger class sizes, the risky nature of our activity, and the unpredictability of this virus, we have more safety measures in place.  This includes wearing a mask at all times in class and outdoors unless we are playing.  This is not up for discussion. Band is an optional class, and requires the permission of the instructor to take it.  

There is hope, and we will be making music soon!

Hang in there folks, I know everyone's patience is pushed to the limit (Full disclosure, I'm going to be a little on edge the first few days myself.  It has nothing to do with y'all), continued cooperation, patience, tolerance, and compliance will make this possible.  I really think we can do our portion and be safe if we follow my guidelines.  I love you folks, I will do my best, and so will you.  Working together (6' apart with masks on) will pull us through.  :)

-Smigell

NEW YORK & MARCHING BAND UPDATES

NEW YORK UPDATE

Great news!  We have made progress with the New York trip refunds!  Educational Tours (ET) is in the process of issuing us a check and we expect to receive it in the next week along with a detailed accounting.  In order to expedite this process, ET is issuing the school a lump sum check for the amount they have recovered so far.  The school district has agreed to issue your individual refunds for this installment. We will let everyone know as soon as we have an exact refund amount and a date that you should receive your check in the mail. 

As indicated in the August 4th blog post, ET is waiting on $9,393.45 from one of the vendors.  If they receive those funds, that portion will be returned directly to you via a separate check from ET.  

For those who have the travel insurance, I will have more information soon including when your claims can be made.  Thanks for your continued patience!

MARCHING BAND

• 1st Practice Thursday, August 20th - Time TBD
• Regular practice schedule and plans will be posted soon!

Marching Band Camp 2020 was awesome!  I can't say enough good things about our band students, chaperones and coaches!  Students - we are so proud of you!  You set a wonderful example of how we can make things happen and stay safe during this time of Covid-19.  PLUS the music sounded great and the drill is looking fabulous!  Great job!

Thank you so much to everyone that helped make marching band camp 2020 a huge success!  We could not have done this without the help from our amazing chaperones and coaches - especially this year!  Here's to a great start to the 2020-21 school year! 

BAND CAMP 2020 INFORMATION

Hello everyone!  I tend to be long winded and in light of all the emails you are getting, I will spare you the long preamble... This is ALL the marching band & camp information!  PLEASE  read this entire post and the links.........

HIGH SCHOOL ORIENTATION

Marching band students WILL be able to attend orientation at a special time!  Arrangements have been made for ALL marching band students to attend at these times:

• FRESHMAN - Wednesday, August 12th from 2:15 to 3:30 p.m.  Students dismissed at 2:00 for orientation.
• 10, 11, 12th grades - Wednesday, August 12 from 3:15 to 4:30 p.m.  Students dismissed at 3:00 for orientation.  High school staff will be on hand until 4:30 to make sure you can get pictures taken, etc.

If you did not receive Mr. Schrock's latest update, please click here:   PRINCIPAL'S VIEW   This has information about parking passes, schedules, etc.

MARCHING BAND CAMP:

Here are the details for camp, which begins Sunday, August 9th for squad leaders and newbies (anyone new to marching band) and Monday, August 10th for EVERYONE!

Payment

Please put your payment form, Charms form (if applicable) and payment in an envelope with your student's name on it and have them turn in at check-in. IF you already mailed a check or paid via PayPal, you are all set!

*  PAYMENT FORM / INFO

*  CHARMS FORM

Safety Precautions

• Per current school district policy and MHSAA guidelines, students will be required to wear a

   face mask unless they are playing their instrument, eating, or drinking.  If a doctor's note

   is furnished noting that a face mask cannot be worn, then a face shield must be worn.

• Camp will be 100% outdoors, except in the case of emergency medical or weather conditions

   (see severe weather plan below)

• Students/Staff/Instructors/Chaperones will be required to fill out our online health form prior

   to the start of activities EACH DAY - the health form must be filled out on the same day

   that your student is checking in. You can't fill it out the day before.

• .Just fill out the form and we can check it on our computerat school. No need to show us

the form on your phone. You can find a link to that form here:

          HEALTH FORM - REQUIRED DAILY

This form is to aid in contact tracing purposes should someone become ill.

• Students/Staff/Instructors/Chaperones that show any signs of illness are expected to stay home

   and alert us! Email Mrs. Allegoet at ALLEGOEL@HOWELLSCHOOLS.COM if you can't attend camp!

• Restrooms will be available at the football stadium along with hand sanitizing stations around our

   practice areas.

• In every setting (field, sectionals, meals, etc..), we are expecting appropriate physical distancing

   among our Students/Staff/Instructors/Chaperones.  We have taken this into account with our drill

   for the marching aspect of things as well.  All members on the field are at least 3.5 steps

   (approx. 6 feet) from one another during the entire field show.  It will look VERY different from what

   you usually see from our group.

• Chaperones and staff will be on hand to assist with all stations and rehearsal areas.

• We have divided our large group into smaller cohorts of individuals in order to abide by the

   MI SAFE SCHOOLS plan for our phase. Students will check in for the day and practice

   in their COHORT, instrument sections.

• Students will not be sharing any instruments or equipment and should not handle any belongings 

  of others.

• We will have a special area for first aid/isolation purposes.  This area is being staffed by two

   of our certified nurses on staff.

• Should a student become ill while at camp, they will be isolated, and the parent(s) will be called. 

  According to the current district plan, we ask the parent to come pick up the student, or the 

  student to drive themselves home.

• Multiple hand sanitizer stations will be available at each main rehearsal location.

• The program we have designed takes into consideration that many of our students have been less

   active for more than four months.  We feel that everyone should be able to physically manage the

   drill and music.

• Each student should take all of their equipment home each day and bring it back the following day.

• Meal time (lunch) at camp and water breaks WILL follow the same physical distancing and small

  group restrictions as noted above.

• We will have a designated area for parents to ask questions on camp days. Other than that, only marching band students, staff and chaperones will be allowed at band camp. No observers or visitors please!

Daily Plans

• Sunday - Squad Leader Morning - check in begins at 7:30 AM at the auditorium loading dock (to the right of the band room).  We will finish at 11 AM.  Lunch is on your own.

• Arrive at check in with your Google health form completed.  Temperature checks required

   which we will do at check in.

• Sunday - Newbie Afternoon (anyone new to marching band) - check in begins at 12:30 PM at the auditorium loading dock (to the right of the band room).  We will finish at 3:30 PM.

• Arrive at check in with your Google health form completed.  Temperature checks required 

  which we will do at check in.

• Monday thru Thursday - check-in begins IN YOUR COHORT AREA at 7:30 AM. 

  Arrive at check-in with your Google health form completed.

• Cohort areas for check-in Monday thru Thursday:

Trumpets - Auditorium loading dock (to the right of band room)

Saxophones - The Rock (next to the field house)

Percussion (Pit & Drumline) & Color Guard - Auditorium Entrance

Clarinets & Flutes - Senior Lot (Grand River side of building)

Low Brass & Horns (Mellophones) - Sidewalk outside band room

• We kept everyone grouped by instruments so you may or may not be with your BFF. 

   We love you, but please don’t ask for changes.  You can check your band group here:

                    CHECK-IN / COHORT GROUPS

• Daily Schedule - The schedule below is TENTATIVE and WILL be adjusted as needed to best serve our band members.  Please do NOT arrive early to camp - arrive at the scheduled check-in time.

Daily Schedule - Monday thru Thursday

7:30  - Check in and temperature check at Cohort Stations

8:00 - Basics

9:00 - Sectionals

10:00- Drill

11:30 - Lunch

12:30 - Music rehearsal/Drill

2:00 - Sectionals

3:00 - Finish/Wrap-up/Dismissed by 3:30

Water breaks will be given regularly throughout the day!

School Owned Instruments

• If you need a school owned instrument, no problem! Students may check out a school owned instrument after check-in on their first day of camp.
  
• If you still have a school owned instrument, please check in with our instrument staff so we know that you still have it

Medications

• We recommend that medications are dispensed at home, before camp.  However, if they must 

  take medication during camp, they must be checked in with our head nurse, Sue Baker,

  at the loading dock check-in area.  All medications must be in their original containers, in a zip lock bag with student’s name on the bag.

• Health forms were completed and turned in for each student with your original registration which

  gives our nurse permission to dispense over the counter medication such as Tylenol, Motrin, etc.

Food/Water

• Any food/drink items must not be shared.

• Bring a water bottle, full of water, from home with your name on it.  If students need to re-fill their

  water bottle during the day, drink stations will be provided.  These drink stations will be staffed

  by 1 staff member only following school safety protocols.  Students will NOT be allowed

  to dispense their own water.

• Lunch will be provided.  Food will be provided in prepackaged containers (box lunches).

• Our food coordinator has worked to try to keep our food sources with local businesses

  as best they can while also following the current school district policy for food distribution.

Severe Weather

• Please bring instrument cases for woodwind instruments, these will provide rain protection if needed.

• We have SOME tolerance for rain.  We monitor the weather ALL THE TIME (probably more than is

   healthy).  If it is deemed that the weather situation is unsafe, students will be moved inside the

   high school building and then spread out to maintain appropriate distancing.  WE WILL NOT BE

   REHEARSING INDOORS.  This is for sheltering purposes only.  If the weather situation does not

   appear as though it will pass quickly, we will ask students to call home to be picked up or drive

   home if they have transported themselves to camp. Our goal is student safety first, and remaining

   indoors for the least amount of time possible. 

• Please bring a raincoat with you each day and be prepared for temperature changes throughout

   the day.

What to Wear

• Dress for the weather!
• Wear comfortable, school appropriate clothing - no short-shorts or offensive tshirts.  
• Wear tennis shoes or other comfortable shoes. 
• MASK!  Put your mask on a lanyard of some sort...you don’t want that on the ground.
• Sunglasses and/or hat
• Hand sanitizer and sunscreen - we will have stations with these items but, if you want to have your own, please bring it along

Other Requests

• Apply sunscreen at home in the morning.

• Drink some water in the morning so you are not starting our time together with a hydration deficit.

• PUT YOUR NAME ON YOUR WATER BOTTLE!

• Your phone is one of the grossest things you have.  Wipe it down every once in a while.

• Put your mask on a lanyard or some sort...you don’t want that on the ground.

• Wash your hands when you get home from camp, maybe even take a shower.  Mark time while

  you are doing it.

• Wipe your phone down often.

• Take showers

• Show your love and appreciation for each other and our activity by giving each person their space

  and not judging anyone for their level of comfort.

Click Here for:  PRACTICE SCHEDULE, FOOTBALL & UNIFORM INFO

• The MHSAA has told us that they are making a decision on August 20th regarding the football schedule. It is possible that football and our marching band season will take place this spring.  That's okay - having band camp now will insure that we are ready to go in the spring!  IF marching band is cancelled entirely, unfortunately we cannot refund the cost of band camp as those expenses will already have been incurred. If the unthinkable does happen:

            ..."At least we had band camp :)"

Please check the band blog each day.  There will most likely be changes.  Thanks to all parents involved in helping to make this happen.  Thanks to Laura Allegoet, Christyne MacDermaid and Dana Sleder in particular.  Thanks to the Hartland High School band program and their director, Brad Laibly for allowing us to shamelessly use their plan as a template (they just finished camp and their plan looks like it worked).  

Thank you everyone for your patience, understanding and flexibility during this process.  You are all very dear to me.  Let’s give our children some sort of experience to remember positively in this on-going poopstorm while still being safe!

• Jason Smigell

     HHS Band Director

THE MINI POST ABOUT BAND CAMP

Hey everybody!!

So the post we are putting together is going to be HUGE, but we know some of you really have some burning questions, so here is the mini post about those questions.  PLEASE CHECK BACK TOMORROW SO YOU KNOW WHAT'S UP!  There are going to be a lot of hoops to jump through that we need EVERYONE to cooperate with.  

THE BIG POINTS:

1. You will need a mask and a personal waterbottle every day of camp!  Because we can't provide rain coats this year, it would be a good idea to bring a rain coat if you have one.

2. Students will NOT be able to attend their regularly scheduled orientation time.  Because band camp is so short this year, we need all hands on deck every day of camp.  However, we have an alternate plan where they will be able to attend Wednesday from 3:30 to 4:30 - after practice.   Students will NOT be picking up paper copies of their schedules at school.  We have been told that schedules will be on-line in PowerSchool once the school notifies you that those are available.

3. There will be an online Google health form that you will need to fill out every day before camp that you will show us on your phone as we are checking your temp for check in each day.  Detailed information on check in procedure and Google health form procedure will be provided tomorrow.

SCHEDULE

SUNDAY, August 9th

7:30 AM - SQUAD LEADERS REPORT FOR SQUAD LEADER SEMINAR (all Squad leaders passed the test, you're in!!)

11:00 - lunch on your own

12:30 - ALL NEWBIES (anyone new to marching band) AND SQUAD LEADERS REPORT FOR NEWBIE DAY

3:30 PM - Done

MONDAY AUG 10th - THURSDAY, AUG 13th

Camp is from 7:30 am to 3:30 pm daily - schedule for check-in will be posted in the next blog post!

GET HYPE... It's happening!! 

TIMES LIKE THIS ARE TIMES WHERE EVERYONE NEEDS TO BE ON THE BALL.  PLEASE CHECK THIS TOMORROW FOR FULL INSTRUCTIONS. 

I. Cannot. Wait. To. See. Everyone.  I'm probably gonna cry (maybe, we'll see)

-Smigell

NEW YORK UPDATE

We are truly disappointed that the refunds for the New York trip did not arrive as originally estimated and would like nothing more than to get this wrapped up for you soon!  Sounds like the new estimate from them is the end of August for refunds.  The latest update from the trip company is below.  Thank you for your continued patience!  - Laura

Email from Donna Adam, President of Educational Tours:

Thank you for reaching out about your refund.  Thank you for your patience as we work through this process.  We wish this was behind us as well.  We are still waiting on one large refund from a vendor in the amount of $9,393.45.  We are staying in touch with them and hope to have this within the month but there is no guarantee.  As soon as we receive the refund, this trip will be placed in the que to process the refund. 

 

I understand that these refunds are needed.  We just cannot refund until all money has been received.  Again, I want to thank you for your patience through this as I know it can be very frustrating.  We are working as quickly as we can once we receive the refunds.

 

Kindest Regards,

Donna

Donna Adam, President

P.O. Box 257, Holt, MI  48842

(800)654-4560 ext. 508

donna@tours-eti.com / www.tours-eti.com

BAND CAMP LUNCH ORDERS! DUE AUGUST 5TH!

If you are registered for marching band and attending camp August 10th to 13th ..........

Dana Sleder has great lunches planned but we need you to fill out the on-line Google form by Wednesday, August 5th at 5 pm to make your lunch selections. If we do not have the form by then, we will make lunch choices for you. PLEASE fill out the form by Wednesday at 5 pm!

LUNCH ORDER GOOGLE FORM

Thank you! - Laura