June 2, 2024 Band Notes

Make sure you have completed Step 1 through Step 8 in the 2024 Registration Guide - these steps must be completed for students to participate in Mini Band Camp.
(Optional) Sign up here for the social at The Web on 6/5 - DUE TOMORROW by Monday, June 3rd at 11:59 pm.
(Optional) Pre-order Papa Johns here for the Family Picnic on 6/7 - DUE by Wednesday, June 5th at 11:59 pm.
(Optional) Consider signing up in BoosterHub (6/3 calendar date) to donate snacks and/or water - can be dropped off with your student on either Monday or Tuesday of Mini Camp.
Join the appropriate Remind group (parents and students each have their own group by section) - see the MB 2024 Remind Information guide.
For students who use school-owned instruments during marching band, complete the contract and fee here - see SCHOOL OWNED & PERSONALLY OWNED INSTRUMENT INFO DOC for additional information.
Seniors: Sign up here for a time to have your photo taken for your senior banner - all time slots are TOMORROW - Monday, June 3.

NEW INFORMATION

Optional Social at the Web

We are excited to bring back fun, optional socials as part of Mini Camp at the Web! The web offers Lazer Tag, Go Karts, Trampolines, Mini Bowling, Mini Golf and more. These social opportunities are a great way to meet the people in your section after rehearsals during our first week together as a marching band. This year we are not assigning nights by section, and will do one night with a slightly longer time frame to allow everyone to go at once.

HOW TO SIGN UP: Jotform with payment/permission slips- CLICK HERE
SIGN UP BY Monday, June 3rd at 11:59pm
DATE: Wednesday, June 5th (one night this year!)
TIME: 6:00-8:30pm
LOCATION: The Web Extreme Entertainment: 7172 Cincinnati-Dayton Rd. West Chester, Ohio 45069
WEBSITE: CLICK HERE
TRANSPORTATION: Transportation is not provided, so families that want to participate will need to pick up and drop off their student.
COST: $26 for unlimited attractions (see above), $10 Arcade card, and soda/pizza
WAIVERS: In the Jotform above, there is a Permission slip from the Web & a Permission slip from MCS to participate

Sign Up for Your 2024 Remind Group

Remind groups are live for 2024 - sign up now to make sure you stay informed throughout the season!

Remind is the system our marching band uses each year to send out timely notifications to students and parents. The directors use Remind to communicate important rehearsal updates, changes due to weather, travel updates, and other important updates.

Groups are set up by section, with separate groups for students and parents. See the MB 2024 Remind Information guide for instructions on how to join and codes for each group.

Road Construction

We have received news that Mason-Montgomery will be closed to thru traffic between Bethany and Main Street starting June 3, for 60 days. Please allow extra time if you typically travel that stretch.

https://www.projectmason.com/masonmontgomeryrdwideningconcordcrossingtoenterpriseblvd

Parade Photos on SmugMug

Pictures from the Memorial Day Parade are now available on SmugMug. Thank you to our amazing Photo Corps!

Reach out to smugmug@masonbandboosters.com if you need the password for the site.

REMINDERS

2024 Marching Band Next Steps

Registration Statistics - Don’t be a statistic - If you fall into one of the categories below it could prevent your student from being able to participate in Mini Camp. As of 6/2:

There are 20 students that have missing or expired physicals (or a physical that expires during Mini Camp)
There are 66 students that have at least one form in FINAL FORMS missing an electronic PARENT/GUARDIAN signature
There are 86 students have at least one form in FINAL FORMS missing an electronic STUDENT signature - please note: students may not be able to sign until parent signatures are completed
There are 65 students who do not have a HWB form submission

To validate that your student will be able to participate:

Log into Final Forms.
Click the blue button to change to 2024-25 season.
You should see a GREEN background (not red) and ‘ELIGIBLE’ with a physical expiration date beyond June 7th (for Mini Camp).

For more detailed instructions see the 2024 Registration Guide and information below.

Marching Band Registration Next Steps

2024 Registration Guide
Past Due
- Get registered in BoosterHub, our new student database
  - All invitations have been sent. Please accept the invitation ASAP to allow us time to troubleshoot if there is a problem. (More details above.)
  - BOOSTERHUB GUIDE
- Pay $400 MB School Fee 1 via EZPAY.
- Pay $400 Student Experience Fee 1.
  - Invoice was sent via email from: quickbooks@notification.intuit.com
- Pay Consumable Fee to Mason Band Boosters. Payment links are now available. Please check to be sure you use the correct link depending on whether your student is an instrumentalist or in the Guard.
  - 2024 Instrumentalist Consumables Form Link
  - 2024 Color Guard Consumables Form Link
- Complete Student Care Forms:
- Review, Complete, and Digitally Sign all forms in FINAL FORMS.
  - ***Make sure you are completing registration for the 2024-25 season (not the 2023-24 season) by clicking the blue ‘CLICK TO SWITCH TO 2024-25 REGISTRATION’ button or your registration will be INCOMPLETE. See the registration guide for more details.***
  - Mason City Schools 2024-2025 Health & Medical Forms
  - Field Trip Permission Form, Tag Day Agreement, and Marching Band Handbook Agreement
- Upload a current Physical (PPE) to FINAL FORMS.
  - PPE Form
  - Note: If you already have a current physical on file in Final Forms, you do not need to upload a new one at this time. However, you will need to upload a new physical before the current one expires.
- Pay: $400 MB School Fee 2 to Mason City Schools via EZPAY.

Mini Band Camp

Mini Band Camp will be taking place June 3rd-7th. This is for all incoming Freshman through rising Seniors who will be in the Marching Band for the 2024 Season. Note: Monday, June 3 will only be for the Leadership Team - full band reports on Tuesday, June 4.

Please see the MINI CAMP GUIDEBOOK for detailed schedules, important deadlines, and form & fee requirements for participation, and much more! This guidebook will be updated with more information as we get closer to June!

Family Picnic and Volunteer Fair

Join us on Friday, June 7th to celebrate the end of an amazing week of mini-camp. We will start at 5:00 pm in the Auditorium with a parent meeting (and show reveal!). Afterwards, head out to the bus circle to a volunteer fair where you can hear about all of the different ways to get involved, and a family picnic where you can meet and mingle with other band families. We’ll end the evening watching the Marching Band’s first performance of the year! *See the Mini Camp Guidebook linked above for more information.

Wondering about food for the picnic? We’ve made it easy for you! Feel free to pack a picnic dinner, but we will also have Papa John’s pizza available for pre-order. You can place your pre-order for pizza, chips, and water by completing the 2024 Mason Bands Picnic order form. (Pre-orders must be made by June 5th at 11:59pm).

Every good picnic ends with a sweet treat, so Kona Ice will be available for direct purchase at the volunteer fair and picnic.

Snack Donations Still Needed

Marching is hard work! Please sign up to donate snack items to keep our hard working marchers energized! No time to shop? That's OK, you can sign up to donate funds to be used to help purchase snacks for the band. Items may be dropped off at the beginning of mini camp.

Please sign up to donate HERE or go directly to the BoosterHub App. Please see the BOOSTERHUB GUIDE for directions on how to sign up to volunteer. (A link to make a monetary donation will be added to BoosterHub in the near future.) NOTE: Even though the button in BoosterHub says “Volunteer”, this sign-up is for donating snacks.

Questions?- Please reach out to Melissa Woodward at vp-studentexperience @masonbandboosters.com

Medication for Mini Band Camp and Beyond

All medication and DMS forms from the 2023-24 school year are considered valid until the end of Mini Camp on June 7, 2024. Medication remaining with the band as well as any approved central OTC medication will be available for your student during Mini Camp (if fully completed DMS forms have been uploaded). All medication from the 2023-24 season must be picked up by the end of Mini Camp or it will be discarded. We are also currently accepting new DMS forms for the 2024-25 season.

For questions about medications or forms, please email medicalsecretary@masonbandboosters.com

Senior Photos

Rising seniors–get ready for your larger-than-life close up! This means get your hair trimmed if you need it, consider carefully before any experimental makeovers, and do your best not to get sunburned the week before!

Senior Photos this year will be on Monday, June 3 from 5-8 pm at the high school.

Sign-ups and order forms were due yesterday! If you haven't signed up, do it now at

https://form.jotform.com/Masonbands/2024-20marching-band-senior-banners.

Note: You will schedule your time slot directly in the Jotform - there is NO BoosterHub sign-up for senior band pictures.

When selecting your time, keep in mind that you need to arrive twenty minutes prior to your appointment to pick up your uniform and change.

Attention Volunteers - New Background Check Policy

There is a new background check policy for volunteers this season that applies to some of our volunteer committees (primarily chaperones).

An extended background check is now required for volunteers as follows:

Anyone traveling off campus with the band (chaperones)
Anyone who might work with students outside of direct supervision (UCrew, Pit Crew, Guard Volunteers)

Note: This only applies to the committee volunteers mentioned above - people volunteering for one-off slots on campus (e.g., Feed the Band, Invitational, Flower Sale, etc.) do not need a background check.

To initiate your extended background check, you will need to make an appointment with Sarah Jo Tewksbury at the Central Office Building. She is available Monday-Friday 7:30am-3:30pm. Click here to sign up. If none of the timeframes work for you, please email Sarah Jo at tewksburys@masonohioschools.com with a few days and time frames that work for you and she will get you scheduled.

Information you'll need to know for your appointment:

* What to bring: Your driver's license and social security number (do not need to bring the card).

* Cost: The cost is $50.00. We accept credit card, cash or check (made out to Mason City Schools).

* Where to go: You'll come to the Central Office Building (address in signature line) and look for the "Main Entrance" sign. Turn left once inside the doors, another left at the end of the hallway and the HR office is the last door on your left (3 lefts).

Note: Extended background checks are valid for 5 years. If you have had one in the past 5 years, you do not need to do a new one at this time.

If you are not sure if you need an extended background check for your position, or do not know if a previous extended background check has expired, please reach out to Melissa at vp-studentexperience@masonbandboosters.com.

For questions about the extended background check process, please email tewksburys@masonohioschools.com.

Want to Join Our Pit Crew?

We are looking for volunteers to join the Mason Bands Pit Crew. This role is perfect for anyone eager to support our students and be close to the action, no prior experience needed. If having the opportunity to see the excitement on your child’s face up close as they walk of the field from a performance excites you, then the Pit Crew is for you. By moving performance equipment, building props and loading trucks, you'll be right there with the whole band. For more information and to sign up, please visit our Pit Crew page and become an integral part of our band community.

Social Media Reminders

We are so excited for our upcoming season, and proud of our students who are already hard at work! Our early start meant that our show theme and other information was revealed to students earlier than usual. All our students have been made aware that they are not to share any of this information, but our new parents might not have heard this yet.

It is very important that you do not post any videos of the band on public websites (YouTube) or social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc) at this time. This also includes pictures of the props, competition uniforms, and show art. This is particularly important for our competition show in order to maintain competitive integrity and for copyright reasons. We want the audience and judges to see our show for the first time at competitions, so that they can enjoy the hard work of our students in a live setting. You are more than welcome to capture your own videos and share with family using a “private” link or message.

Skyline Dine and Donate - Save the Date!

Our next Dine and Donate event will be at Skyline Chili on Wednesday, June 12th. Bring the flyer and the band receives 15% of the proceeds. The flyer must be presented at the checkout.

When: Wednesday, June 12, 2024 from 11am-10pm

Where: Skyline Chili located at: 5214 Bardes Rd., Mason, OH 45040 (this location only)

BoosterHub FAQs

With the upcoming season getting under way and people using BoosterHub more regularly, we are getting some great questions, particularly on “volunteer” sign-ups. We recognize that BoosterHub is very different from Charms, so we are all going through a learning curve. Hopefully sharing information from questions we’ve gotten so far will help everyone.

1. Why don’t volunteer links take me directly to the event?

BoosterHub does not currently have a way to link directly to an event for volunteer sign-up, so all links are to the general volunteer page. You will need to find the event you are signing up for once you are on that page or in that area of the mobile app. We recognize that this is currently a long list with the way BoosterHub displays it - we are looking into whether there is a way to make this more user-friendly.

UPDATE: Both the browser and the mobile app allow you to filter events and search events. To filter or search in the browser, use the fields at the top of the screen on the Volunteer page. To filter in the mobile app, click the blue, circular filter button at bottom center. To search in the mobile app, use the field at the top of the Volunteer screen. Note that in the mobile app, the Volunteer button is disabled for any opportunity where all slots are already filled.

2. Why are sign-ups a mix of students and parents?

Unlike in Charms, with BoosterHub, each parent has a separate login from their student. When signing up for a slot, the name of the person who was logging in is what will show on the slot. Thus, if a parent is signing their student up, the parent name will show. Same is true if a student signs their parent up for something - the student will show. Don’t worry, this is not a problem. If you have a different last name from the person you’re signing up, though, please put the person’s name in the comment field.

3. Can I change my signup?

Yes! This is new with moving to BoosterHub - you can “unvolunteer” to remove yourself from a slot you previously signed up for as long as it is more than 24 hours out. After that you will need to email the event coordinator or BoosterHub admin to be removed.

4. If my student and I both are signing up, do I use two slots?

This depends. If you are just accompanying your student (e.g., freshman uniform fittings), or just signing up on their behalf, then no - you should only take one slot. If you are both volunteering for an event where students are eligible to volunteer as well, then yes - take two slots.

5. Why did I get a reminder for an event I didn’t sign up for?

It appears that BoosterHub reminders are for the event itself, and not tied to a sign-up. So reminders are sent to any members who are relevant based on tags (e.g., MB Brass 2024), regardless of whether you have volunteered. We have a workaround, but it may still happen occasionally.

6. Can I see sign-ups for family members?

The section that shows your sign-ups in BoosterHub does not show sign-ups for family members/linked members - it only shows your sign-ups. You can see who has signed up for any event by clicking on the event. In a browser, the people signed up will show in a panel on the right of the screen; in the mobile app, they show at the bottom (scroll down).

7. Why does the button and/or reminder email say "Volunteer"?

Unfortunately BoosterHub does not currently provide the ability to change the button label or email wording for sign-ups. Each sign-up opportunity will clearly state the purpose. Sign-ups such as Uniform Fittings or Snack Donations are NOT to volunteer. True volunteer opportunities typically start around Band Camp in July (e.g., Tag Day drivers).

We greatly appreciate how patient and proactive everyone has been! Keep the questions coming - we are here to help!

Interested In Becoming A Band Aid or Chaperone?

Interested in learning more about how to join our Chaperone and Band Aid Team? If so, please go to. There you will find the comprehensive steps required in order to join in the important role of caring for our students and details on what each role entails.

First Steps

Both Returning Chaperones & Band Aids as well as new volunteers who are interested should complete the form below.
- Band Aid Interest Form
Chaperone & Band Aid Training - this will be offered a second time, stay tuned for date and time
Complete an extended background check with the district (see above)