Welcome to Shasta High Choir! It is great to be back in the classroom with your kids. Every year I grow to love Shasta High School more and more. I have a feeling this could be an exceptional year for the Choral Program. The students have been extremely responsive to my directions and show a genuine adoration for music and life.

Our choir schedule is as busy as ever and is summarized in the calendar on the back page of this newsletter. Auditions are sneaking up on us for our first amazing production – Madrigal Dinner. Students will be auditioning for parts on September 26^th and 27^th. I hope you will find a way to be involved with your child’s life in the Choral Program in some way. There are opportunities waiting for you in many different areas – Madrigal Dinner, Spring Musical, Choir Boosters, etc. We have a blast working together, developing friendships, and most importantly, helping our kids to achieve greatness. Thank you for your support.

Our first parent meeting is on Monday, September 17, at the conclusion of Back-to-School Night. Our primary agenda item is the election of officers. Anyone wishing to run for elected office must notify Mr. Spencer by September 10. This will allow us time to get your name on the ballot. The elected positions are President, Vice-President, Secretary, and a Member-at-Large from each class.

Choir students MUST have choir shirts for their first performance on November 7. If you have not already ordered a shirt, please get an order form from Mr. Spencer or call Karen Woods at 244-1551. Thanks.

The choir has its own website at www.shastachoir.com. A current calendar of events is always available on the website. We also communicate information by group e-mail; please make sure you give us your e-mail – both parents and students – so you can keep current on what’s happening with choir. This first newsletter is being mailed, but after that, newsletters are e-mailed or posted on the website unless you specifically request to have them mailed to you. Please contact Peggy O’Lea at 246-1446 if you do not have Internet access to make arrangements to get a printed copy of future newsletters.

Karen Woods will be available at the Back-to-School Choir Parent Meeting for pick up and/or purchase of:

1) Choir Polo Shirts $25.00 (Every choir student needs a polo shirt as mandatory casual performance wear.)

If you are unsure if you have already purchased or picked up any of these items, please see Karen before or after the meeting.

Formal choir performance wear will be distributed at the end of September. Please encourage your student to take good care of these uniforms. Girls must wear sensible black dress shoes and black hose. Boys must purchase a choir tux shirt (at any tux store), and must also wear black dress shoes and black socks. A white undershirt is encouraged under the tux shirt. The students are assigned a number to their uniform, and are responsible for replacing any article that is lost or damaged. Costs will vary, but range from $10 for a bow tie to $70 for a jacket. No student will graduate with an outstanding debt for any reason. When your student brings his/her performance wear home in the next two weeks, PLEASE READ THE ATTACHED INFORMATION CAREFULLY. Adhering or not adhering to the performance wear dress code will affect your student’s total points in choir and may affect his/her final grade. Please check to see if your student’s clothing needs hemming of any kind. This may include your daughter’s dress hem, or son’s pant hem or jacket cuffs. There will be names of cleaners and their addresses and phone numbers listed on the information if you should need to avail yourselves of that help.

Informal choir uniforms consist of the navy choir polo shirt and khaki pants for boys, or khaki pants, capris, or knee-length skirts for girls. Solid dark closed-toed shoes are required. Boys must tuck in their shirt. Order forms are available from Mr. Spencer. Cost for the shirt is $25; check is to be made payable to Shasta High Choir.

The “magic” of the Madrigal Dinner is upon us once again. The tradition of being a part of this wonderful dinner/performance adds so much to our holiday season. It is a tremendous pleasure to watch our students take part in such an awesome program. Shasta’s Choral Department has a great cast of talented students. As parents, let’s show our support for all the hours of hard work they put in the program and be supportive volunteers to help create this “magic” once again.

The performances this year will be December 5, 6, 7, 8 and December 11, 12, 13, 14, 15. In order for this long-running tradition to continue as well as it has in the past, we need the help of our new parents as well as our seasoned veterans. It is time for everyone to help by volunteering to sign up for one or more committees. You’ll find that it is a lot of fun and exciting to be an active parent in such an outstanding program. Each night’s performance requires approximately 50 volunteers. We will have an organizational meeting in October after the auditions. You don’t have to have a student in the Madrigal Dinner to help. We also need freshmen or sophomore parents who are interested in co-chairing a committee this year, learning what’s involved, and assuming the chairmanship next year. The hours you donate will be converted to “points” which can be used to help fund your student’s 2008 Europe trip. The more hours worked, the more affordable the Europe trip becomes. (The point system is explained on page four of the newsletter.)

Pre-general sales ticket order forms will be mailed out to parents who have students involved in the Madrigal Dinner the last week of September. Tickets are $30 each with limits depending on your student's grade level. If you do not receive a letter and order form by October 1st, please call Carolyn Mecham at 246-2917. The orders are due back by October 22. Additional tickets can be purchased at general public ticket sales from 8:30 am – 12 noon on November 3 and 10 at the Shasta Learning Center/David Marr Theater foyer with a limit of 4 per customer. We cannot guarantee the same night as your original order or that seats will be together; picking a mid-week performance might make it possible. The date by which orders are received determines the seating charts so please get them mailed back to Carolyn Mecham ASAP! Thank you.

There are only eight Madrigal Dinner patronships available. The cost is $200 with two free tickets included with the opportunity to purchase four more. Patrons receive first consideration to choice of nights for seating. Contact Carolyn Mecham at 246-2917 if you are interested in a patronship.

Shasta Choir Students will sell Ducky Derby tickets this year! Ducky Derby is a very popular fundraiser in our community and will be extremely profitable for our choir! Between 80% and 100% of all the funds earned by Ducky Derby ticket sales go directly back to the schools and programs that sell the tickets. In our case, all money raised by an individual Shasta High School choir student will be credited to that choir student’s account. This money can be used later to help fund the participating choir students’ costs for various choir activities throughout their years in the Shasta High School Choir including our fall Opera trips, spring field trips, and even this year’s European tour! The funds raised will be allocated and dispersed according to the rules and regulations of the Shasta Choir Booster Board policies. More information will be sent home later regarding how student funds will be dispersed before the Europe trip.

Everyone who adopts a duck has the opportunity to win all sorts of wonderful and amazing prizes including an “extreme remodel” valued at $15,000! Find out more about prizes by going to the Redding East Rotary Ducky Derby website at http://www.reddingduckyderby.com/prizes.php .

STUDENT SAFETY is always our first priority so please discuss your family’s rules about selling tickets. NEVER allow anyone to sell tickets door-to-door alone and only sell to people you know. Remember you are representing the Shasta High School Choir and always conduct yourself positively and appropriately when selling tickets.

If you have questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to call Ducky Derby Ticket Chairman, Randy Ranken, at 243-1178. Good luck!

The Shasta High Choir will have a “For Your School” cookie dough and catalog fundraiser. Students will receive the information materials in class on Tuesday, October 2. The fundraiser will run from October 2-14; orders will be turned in on Monday, October 15 so that cookie dough and catalog items will be received before Thanksgiving. This is a fundraising opportunity for students going on the Europe trip in June 2008. The profits from the sale of “For Your School” items are tracked by individual student and are deposited in that student’s account to be used toward the cost of the Europe trip in June 2008 or other choir trips in future years. Please contact chairperson, Jeneva Roberts, at 246-1647 if you have any questions or are interested in helping with this fundraiser.

OUR GOAL: The point system was introduced to encourage parent involvement in choir activities, to help families pay for choir trips, and as a way to distribute earnings fairly to our hardworking students. The Choir Boosters was established to give our students the best experience we can. It is run by a Board elected at a general Parent Meeting. We are all volunteers.

Points may be earned by parents and students by working on choir activities such as the Madrigal Dinner or the musical. Generally, one point is credited for each hour’s work. Points will be assigned a monetary value and credited toward trip expenditures for the European trip.

Points have a monetary value only when used for the Europe choir trip. They do not constitute money in the real world and are non-refundable. Money equal to students’ unused points remains in the choir account to fund choir expenditures such as microphones, tuxedos, or computer equipment.

HOW ARE POINTS EARNED? Parents may earn points only when working on a project that benefits the entire group and not for such things as making your own student’s costumes. These points may be applied to the account of any of their children who are enrolled in choir. They may earn 1 point per hour when working on choir projects or when serving in the following ways:

A student can be credited with a maximum of 120 points each year, which may be earned in any combination by the student and his/her parents. There is a maximum cumulative total of 300 points for each student.

If you are going on the Europe Trip and you have not been able to earn points over a three year period because you were a transfer student or a sophomore the year of the Europe Trip, you may request Board review of your point status. This review must take place by the November board meeting of the Europe Trip year. Call the Points Chairperson to schedule the review.

WHO MAY EARN POINTS? Parents, or approved adults, may earn points for only their own children who are currently enrolled in choir. Children cannot earn points for themselves until they are in a high school choir, even if they are cast members. Points earned by a student in the music program cannot be transferred to a sibling or a fellow choir member. Points may not be earned by sisters and brothers, cousins, grandparents, friends, etc., nor offered to anyone outside the immediate family. Although we welcome the help of these people, the value of points would be greatly diluted if we allowed too many people to collect them. Parents who are employed by the music department do not earn points for time spent at their paying jobs, but may join committees to earn points.

HOW ARE MONETARY VALUES OF POINTS FIGURED? The total number of points earned for the year by all students will be divided into the total net income from the Madrigal Dinner and the musical. This will establish a fixed value for the points earned that year. The amount each student has earned toward the cost of the European trip is calculated by multiplying this value times the student’s total points for that year. Points and their values will be fixed at the end of each year and cannot be changed at a later date. Point values will differ from year to year depending on the number of students’ and parents’ hours and the success of the musical. (The Madrigal Dinner is always sold out.) Points are only used towards the cost of the European trip. Freshman students who can attend two trips during their high school years will be allowed to use their first year earned points (120 points maximum) for the freshman year trip. They will also be allowed to earn another 300 points maximum toward the senior year trip.

FUND RAISING PROJECTS: Fund raising projects must have prior approval from the Boosters Board when the Shasta High Choir Boosters or a particular trip is mentioned in the advertising for the event. Monies collected will be deposited in the Choir Boosters’ account, in the individual student’s name, to be used toward choir trip expenses only. The person in charge must furnish the Treasurer with a list of students who earned money.

RESPONSIBILITY: It is the responsibility of every parent and child to use the sign-up sheets provided at each activity. This is the only way your points can be reported. It is the responsibility of the chairpersons to provide sign-up sheets, tally total hours worked by each volunteer and turn in these points in a timely manner.

All appeals for change in points must be addressed in writing to the Choir Boosters Board. Questions about your account’s current status may be addressed at any time during the year to the Student Points Coordinator or at any Parent Meeting. If you suspect that there has been an oversight, be sure to take care of it during the school year in which you worked.

-parent meeting/election of officers 3,10 Madrigal Dinner public ticket sales

26-27 Madrigal Dinner auditions 14 Mixed Choir Festival at Mormon Stake Center

2 Madrigal Dinner rehearsals begin 3-4 Final Madrigal Dinner dress rehearsals

TBA Madrigal Dinner chairperson meeting 16 Madrigal Choir at Pilgrim Congregational Church

TBA Madrigal Dinner rehearsals begin at church 24-31 vacation (school resumes 1/8)