Live-streaming tonight's concert

Here is the link if you would like to watch the live-stream of tonight's 7 p.m. Winter Showcase concert!

How to donate to HRHS Orchestras - effortlessly!

So, in my last post, I told you about two awesome fundraising programs we are involved in.  This email is to give you directions so that you too can participate!

For King Soopers:

Your everyday shopping can be a great boost to our fundraising efforts!  To associate your loyalty card with the King Soopers Community Rewards Program, visit http://www.kingsoopers.com and click on "Welcome, Sign In" then click "Sign In" and sign in to your King Soopers account OR create a new account. Once signed in, click on "My Account" and then "My Account" again. This brings you to the Account Summary page. On the left side, click on "Community Rewards." Under "Find an Organization," search for HRHS and then click "Enroll" under Highlands Ranch High School Orchestra Boosters VL865.  Now all you have to do is swipe your loyalty card or enter your alternate ID every time you shop to earn money for our Orchestra program.  It couldn't be any easier!

For Amazon Smile:

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are approaching quickly!  You can support HRHS Orchestras by shopping on Amazon!

Just click here, log in, and select us (Hrhs Orchestra Boosters) to help raise money for the Orchestra general fund while you do all of your normal (and holiday!) shopping on Amazon. Be sure to bookmark Amazon through Smile and open through that link. It's a win-win all the way around! We appreciate all you do to help us support this wonderful organization. Happy shopping!  

Why you should donate to HRHS Orchestras

Our Booster board wants to let everyone know about two effortless fundraising campaigns you can do as you go about your holiday gift and grocery shopping. This is a long email with a lot of information, but please read to the end. See next post for how to sign up to help!
First, our King Soopers program is so much easier than it used to be. Right now, we have 12 families participating in this program. Together for the 3rd quarter of the year, they raised $414! We currently have nearly 60 families combined in the three Orchestras. Think how much we could raise if everyone took the simple steps to sign up!
To put this in perspective, Mrs. Jonas asked for section coaches to come in the first week of December. This will cost $450 for a total of 150 minutes of coaching (50 minutes with each of the three classes). We will spend more in this one transaction than we raised in 3 months of our King Soopers program.
Second, we participate in the Amazon Smile program. This is equally easy and beneficial to our program. You use the Amazonsmile.com website to do your normal (and holiday) shopping, and they will donate money back to our program. How cool is that? From July to September of this year, we earned $7.25. They donate millions of dollars a year to organizations just like ours. We should be taking advantage of this benefit, especially as we prepare for the holidays (think Black Friday and Cyber Monday specifically!).
So why do we do these two programs, as well as the restaurant nights and various other fundraisers? We have used these funds for the following:

* Section Coaches
* Special Guests
* Classroom instrument repair
* Senior Scholarship fund
* Homecoming Parade
* Trick-or-treat street
* Strings Camp
* End-of-Year Banquet

We also use this money for other items that the Orchestra program may need as the year progresses. This is so important for the success of our Orchestra program!
Our next Booster meeting will be Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2020, at 6:30 in the HRHS Orchestra room. These meetings are where we discuss what funds are needed, fundraising options, and how funds are used, as well as upcoming events. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to come! As always if you have questions, please let us know.

Meeting minutes posted

The minutes from our November booster meeting have been posted on the Booster page of this website. Thank you!

Booster agenda

The agenda for our upcoming Booster meeting has been added to the website.  Feel free to come join us if you see something that interests you, or if you have another issue to discuss, please let us know ahead of time.  Hope to see some new faces Monday, Nov. 18 at 6:30 in the HRHS Orchestra room.  Here's the link if you need it.

Booster meeting coming up

Just a reminder that our next Booster meeting is Monday, Nov. 18 at 6:30 p.m. in the HRHS Orchestra room.  By being a parent or guardian of an Orchestra member, you are a member of our Booster organization!  We invite -and encourage! - you to join us at these meetings.  This is where you can find out all about our upcoming events, fundraising and budgeting, and so much more!  We hope to see you there!

Just a reminder that Butter Braid delivery will be this Friday, Nov. 8.  You can pick up your order from 12:30 - 3 p.m. ONLY.  Items can be picked up near the student entrance of the school (across from the band room).  We have no way to store items that are not picked up so be sure to make arrangements to be there during this time!

Your items should be returned to the freezer within 3-4 hours, but the sooner the better.

Thank you so much for all your hard work with this fundraiser.  We will see you all Friday afternoon to pick up your orders!

Concert tomorrow

Our first concert of the school year is tomorrow, Monday, October 7 at 7 p.m.  Students need to be at the school in full concert attire at 6 p.m. to warm up.  

There will be Orchestra logo products for sale such as water bottles, drawstring bags, and reusable straws for $5 each.  We will be kicking off our fall fundraiser with samples of Butter Braids.  There is also a fun drawing to win great gift cards from local HR businesses. Tickets will be $5/each, or 5 for $20.  We can only accept cash!

And to end the night, head over to Dairy Queen (9435 S. University Blvd.) for a sweet treat - 20% of sales will come back to the Orchestra when you mention "HRHS Orchestra". 

 As always if you have any questions, please let us know. We look forward to seeing you tormorrow.  

We are still in need of volunteers (students and parents welcome!) to help sell concessions for two school events during Homecoming week.  These are fundraisers for our Orchestra boosters so we could use as much help as possible to make this successful!  Even if you can just work part of the night it will be super helpful!

Coming up first is the Powder Puff game on Wednesday, Oct. 2.  The game will be from 6:30 - 9 p.m. on the turf field.  Please use this link  to sign up to help: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/8050F4CA8A829A6FF2-homecoming2

The second event is the bonfire/pep rally on Thursday, Oct. 3.  This event will take place in the teacher lot from 6:30 - 9 p.m. This is the sign up for this event:  https://www.signupgenius.com/go/8050F4CA8A829A6FF2-homecoming1

Also, don't forget to sign up to participate in the Homecoming parade on Saturday, Oct. 5.  Sign up here:  https://www.signupgenius.com/go/8050F4CA8A829A6FF2-homecoming

Upcoming events

October is turning into a fun-filled month for Orchestra families. We have several opportunities to support the Orchestra by volunteering to sell concessions for two school events during Homecoming week.
Coming up first is the Powder Puff game on Wednesday, Oct. 2. The game will be from 6:30 - 9 p.m. on the turf field. Please use this link to sign up to help: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/8050F4CA8A829A6FF2-homecoming2
The second event is the bonfire/pep rally on Thursday, Oct. 3. This event will take place in the teacher lot from 6:30 - 8 p.m. This is the sign up for this event: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/8050F4CA8A829A6FF2-homecoming1
Also, don't forget to sign up to participate in the Homecoming parade on Saturday, Oct. 5. Sign up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/8050F4CA8A829A6FF2-homecoming
We also should mention the first concert of the year is Monday, October 7 at 7 p.m. in the HRHS Auditorium. Your student should have their attire now; if they do not have their attire yet, please have them see Mrs. Jonas this week. All alterations must be completed before the concert date. Immediately following the concert will be a Dairy Queen restaurant night so we can all celebrate with sweet treats - another HRHS Orchestra tradition. Our Orchestras will receive 20% of the proceeds from this night so join us!
Thank you for your continued support!

September meeting minutes

Hi! Minutes from our September 9 meeting have been posted on our Booster page!

Homecoming parade

We are reaching out to see if there is any interest in participating in the "Greek Out" homecoming parade Saturday, October 5.  This is for all Orchestra students and families.  Please see the link below to sign up for this fun HRHS tradition. We must register by 9/27 so if you are able to help please let us know ASAP.  Thanks!

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/8050F4CA8A829A6FF2-homecoming

Attire closet open tomorrow

Just wanted to remind you that Boosters will be at HRHS tomorrow 8/26 from 5:30-9 p.m. We will be in the Orchestra room helping families find pre-owned attire for the upcoming year.  This is an awesome opportunity to save money if your student needs new attire; we still have lots of tuxes and some dresses.

Reminder:  Your returning student only needs new attire if their current dress or tux doesn't fit any longer or if they are changing from Overture/Symphony to Chamber this year.  All new students need to find pre-owned attire or take measurements for new attire.  These measurements are due to Mrs. Jonas by Friday, Sept. 6.

If you need to turn in used attire, you may bring it to the Orchestra room tomorrow night as well.  Please let us know as soon as possible if you have attire to turn in.  There are still quite a few families we have not heard from as to what their attire needs are for the year.

Attire deadline Monday

Reminder: The deadline to let us know about your dresses and tuxes for this year is this Monday, Aug. 12! We have only heard from a few people. Please let us know as soon as possible so we know what inventory we have to work with, as well as who will need new attire. We really appreciate your prompt response and cooperation. Thank you!

EBOP

If you have a younger student or know someone who does, it's time to register for EBOP for the upcoming school year!  Here is the link for EBOP registration for this year.   

Instrument rental night at HRHS is Mon. 8/26 from 6pm to 8pm.

Additional information (including the calendar) can be found on the EBOP website (http://hrebop.blogspot.com/).  

Beginning EBOP (for those new to their instrument) starts the week of 9/9 at HRHS on Tues and Thurs from 7am to 8am.  

Advanced EBOP (for those who have played their instrument for at least 1 year) starts on Wed 9/4 at HRHS on Mon, Wed, and Fri from 7am to 8am.

Please reach out to Mrs. Jonas directly if you have any additional questions.

Correction to 2019-2020 Attire

Correction:  Boosters would like for all students to have measurements done on their own.  Below is the information needed to complete the required measurements.  The measurements must be completed by Friday, Sept. 6 so we can place the order Sept. 9.  Delivery is expected around Sept. 23.  This should allow enough time for alterations to be made if needed before the Oct. 7 concert.  Using a bulk order will save us on delivery fees.  Any student that doesn't have their measurements in by Friday, Sept. 6 will be required to pay their own delivery fees and run the risk of not having their attire delivered on time.  These dates apply to all new and returning students, as well as those moving up to Chamber this year.

The main volunteer opportunity would be to help with the tuxes on hand and make sure everyone has what they need, as well as verifying the order and sorting it upon delivery.   This will be done on Aug. 14 during the swap meet from 4-6 p.m., as well as during back-to-school night from 6-8 p.m.  Without a volunteer, this may be the only date to get an in-stock tuxedo.  We hope to not be limited to this one date, so if anyone else can help, it would be very helpful.

Thank you so much for your patience! It is greatly appreciated as we work through the logistics of this process.

Symphony/Overture dress & all tuxedos:

https://tuxedowholesaler.com/concert-attire/index.php/redi-ship-program/gowns/crystal.html 

  

https://tuxedowholesaler.com/fittingvideo 

https://tuxedowholesaler.com/forms/TW_Measuring_Form.pdf 

https://tuxedowholesaler.com/forms/TW_HowtoMeasure.pdf 

Chamber dress:

https://www.stageaccents.com/how-to-measure/ 

https://www.stageaccents.com/media/wysiwyg/Page82-86_ChartsForms_updated4.23_1.jpg  (SIZE CHART B)

Fundraising opportunities

I wanted to give you some more information about the other fundraising opportunities that will be coming up throughout the year. 

First of all, you may be wondering why it is so important for us to raise money every year.  Mrs. Jonas is given a limited amount of money to use on music, sectional coaches (these are outside teachers that come work with different sections), transportation to events, competitions, and class instrument repairs.  The boosters are tasked with making up the difference between district funding and what it actually costs to do all of these things with and for our students.  All money raised goes to benefit all three Orchestra classes.  If you have further questions regarding our financials, please email Wendy Becker.

Our easiest fundraising avenue is through King Soopers.  Previously you had to load money onto a gift card, but they have simplified the process greatly.  You now only have to assign Highlands Ranch Orchestra Boosters to your King Soopers rewards card.  You use your card as usual, and they do the rest!  This couldn't be any easier; however, you can only assign one non-profit to your card. The directions to do this are in the document attached to this email.  Please direct any questions to Lisa Birdwell.  

We also have Safeway cards available! They are free and are pre-loaded with $2.50.  You re-load them before you check out, then use it like a regular gift card.  Orchestra gets a portion of the sales for this as well.

Another easy way to help us raise money this year is through our Scrips program.  Scrips is an online and physical gift card program that gives money back to our boosters based on which company you get a gift card from.  There are hundreds of restaurants and retailers available.  The directions and more information about these programs are also attached to this email.  We usually place one or two orders for the physical gift cards during the year to use as gifts. 

We have more restaurant nights being planned right now, and I'll get you that information as soon it's available.  These are a great opportunity for families to help out Orchestra while taking a night off from cooking.  We usually get between 15-30% of the sales from these nights, but our Mod Market return will be 50% of sales so that is very exciting!

Another simple fundraising option we offer is becoming a Friend of the Orchestra.  Families, individuals, and companies can make a tax-deductible donation to Friends of the Orchestra to go toward our general fundraising efforts.  At designated donation levels, we will recognize donors through various methods.  Click here to get more details.

There will most likely be other fundraising efforts that will come up during the year, and we'll let you know about those.  If you have fundraising ideas or an interest in helping, please feel free to contact Alex Collins.  We appreciate all the support you can give us to help us make this an excellent year for our students!  Thank you!

Communications

I wanted to let you know about some of the ways we communicate information for Orchestra Boosters.  It will be a good idea to have these set up before the school year starts if possible.

Emails -- Of course, you'll be getting emails from me (Sandra Rainey) periodically, as well as from Mrs. Jonas, our director.  Be sure to add this email address to your contact list so our emails don't go into spam.

Blog/website -- http://hrhsorchestras.blogspot.com/  We put announcements on here regarding upcoming meetings, concerts, and fundraisers, as well as information about Boosters' happenings.  We strive to be transparent in our operations.  Go to this website to find out about meeting agendas, minutes, and (hopefully soon) our budget information.  You can also find how to contact anyone on the board if you have questions or need help.  There aren't any silly or dumb questions, and if you are thinking it, most likely others are as well.  Our Orchestra Google calendar is on here too, if you'd like to subscribe.

Facebook -- Highlands Ranch High School Orchestras  We put a lot of our event information on here as well as pictures from various events, classes, and performances.  It's easiest to go through the link to find us.

Remind --  This is an app we have for reminders.  We try not to use it too often, but it's useful to have, I think.  To join our class group, enter 81010 into your phone, then text "@orchparen" to that number.  This should be all you need to do.

Sign-up genius -- We will need volunteers periodically throughout the year.  We will send out a sign-up genius to let you know how you can help.  Getting involved in these activities is a great way to get to know fellow parents, as well as being more "in the know." I know my kiddo, especially in younger years, wasn't always the most reliable source of information... It does get better though! LOL!

Your 2019-2020 Orchestra Booster board

Hope everyone is having a great summer! As of July 1, here is your Orchestra board for this year:

Lisa Birdwell, President        lbirdwell.bosco@gmail.com
Alex Collins, VP Fundraising     sekacollins5280@gmail.com
Sandra Rainey, VP Communications    srainey@dcsdk12.org
Wendy Becker, Treasurer      HRHSOrchestraBoosters.treasurer@gmail.com
Nicole Vasseur, Secretary      nvasseur17@gmail.com

Mrs. Jonas, Director              rjonas@dcsdk12.org
HRHS Orchestra Boosters     hrhsorchestraboosters@gmail.com


Thank you to everyone who voted!  Please feel free to email any of us if you have questions or concerns or use our HRHS Orchestra Boosters email. 

Most emails regarding Orchestra will come from the Booster's email address so be sure to add it to your contacts so you don't miss anything important!

Banquet update

It's banquet time --  tomorrow, Saturday, May 11! We will open the doors at 5:30 p.m. to bring in dishes. Dinner will be at 6 p.m. the Commons (moved from Auditorium).   After, we will clean up and then proceed to our awards ceremony and senior recognition in the Auditorium.  We're really looking forward to seeing everyone and celebrating our Orchestras!

Cranelli's restaurant night May 13

Come to Cranelli’s with HRHS Orchestras!

We will be hosting our last restaurant night of the school year at Cranelli’s! Come join us Monday, May 13 from 4-9 p.m. Cranelli’s will donate 20% of the night’s sales to our Orchestra Boosters. Cranelli’s is located at 10047 Park Meadows Drive in Lone Tree, but if you’re in a hurry, call ahead (303-799-3661) to order a delicious meal to take home. What a fabulous way to end our year of fundraising and making music!

April minutes posted

So sorry for the delay in this! The April minutes have now been posted on the Boosters page.

Booster meeting cancelled

Due to the EBOP concert tomorrow night, May 7, we will not be having our regularly scheduled Booster meeting. Thank you!

Mark your calendars for our Orchestra banquet and awards ceremony on Saturday, May 11 at 6 p.m.  The Orchestra Boosters will provide pulled pork, and we are asking everyone to sign up to bring a side dish or dessert.  The sign-up genius link will allow you to RSVP, as well as sign up to bring a dish.  Please do this by Sunday, May 5th so we can get an accurate headcount for the main dish.  The banquet is for all students and families!
 
We will open the doors at 5:30 p.m. to bring in dishes.  Dinner will be at 6 p.m. on the HRHS Auditorium stage.  After, we will clean up and then proceed to our awards ceremony and senior recognition.
 
We hope to see you all there to celebrate our Orchestras' efforts for the year.  

Booster meeting tomorrow

Reminder:  Booster meeting tomorrow (4/8) at 6:30 p.m. in HRHS Orchestra room.  We will be talking about our next two events, as well as the upcoming banquet.  We really hope to see you there!

Updated cookie information

Mrs. Jonas says this week will be very chaotic since there is testing two days in a row.  She is requesting that cookie order forms be turned in tomorrow, Monday, April 8 if possible.  We are sorry for any inconvenience and very much appreciate your help and support!  Thank you!

Dairy Queen Restaurant Night

Orchestra Restaurant Night

Join the HRHS Orchestra on March 12 from 5 to 9:30 p.m.
at Dairy Queen in Highlands Ranch, 9435 S. University Blvd.

Bring in this flyer, and the Orchestra program
 will receive 20% of all sales!

This is the same night as our Spring concert (7 p.m.) so join us before, after, or both to celebrate another successful concert and support our Orchestra program.  Copies of the flyer will be available at the concert. See you there!

Meeting minutes posted, calendar update

Our March Booster meeting minutes have been updated on our Boosters page.
Some upcoming calendar dates to add to your schedules:
           Tuesday, March 12 - Orchestra concert and Dairy Queen restaurant night 5-9:30 p.m. Bring a flyer to the restaurant to help us earn 20% of sales. There will be flyers available at the concert.
           Monday, March 25 - We will begin our spring fundraising effort with Integrity Fundraising (you know them as the Butter Braid folks).  The main focus of this sale is cookies and coffee, but Butter Braids can be ordered as well.  The sale will continue until April 10, and the products will be delivered on April 15 or 16 for the students to bring home that day.
            Saturday, March 30 - Orchestra Council will host Strings Camp for all EBOP and middle school students from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
            Monday, April 8 - Next Booster meeting 6:30 p.m. in the Orchestra room
            Wednesday, April 24 - HRHS Overture and Symphony Orchestras will participate in Arts Alive at HRHS.  This evening (6-8 p.m.) is a walking tour of all forms of creative talent, including music, theater performances, and an art exhibit.
             Thursday, May 2 - Our Chamber Orchestra will perform at Great Works at St. Andrew United Methodist Church from 7 - 9 p.m.  Tickets must be purchased for this performance.

Booster meeting Tuesday

Our next Booster meeting will be this Tuesday, March 5 at 6:30 p.m. in the Orchestra room.  Please come join us to find out what's coming up and going on; our agenda has been posted on our Booster page.  We hope to see you all there!  If you can't make it, visit our Booster page a couple of days after the meeting to see what happened. Thank you for your support!

Back in the swing of it!

After the crazy of the past 2 months, we finally are getting back to normal.  I just wanted to update everyone on a few bits of news.

First, our calendar: 
Our next concert is Tuesday, March 12 at 7 p.m in the HRHS Auditorium.  We are working on another Dairy Queen restaurant night as well, and I'll let you know if we can get that pinned down.
 
We will also host Strings Camp on Saturday, March 30.  This is an all-day event that lets our high schoolers spend time with younger students helping them work on their technique and bonding over crafts, lunch, and more!

It's not too early to start thinking about our Orchestra banquet on May 11.  This is a night where we can honor our seniors, look back on the past year, and, of course, enjoy dinner.  It's a great time!  Parents of seniors, start thinking about how to decorate your student's board now.  We will provide the board, and you can decorate however you like with pictures, etc.  You will hear a lot more about this and our banquet as we get closer to May.

Second, we've got some great photos from our Winter Concert up on our Facebook page.  Go take a look what nice work Kelly Maxwell did for us!

Also, I've added a "Boosters" page to our website!  This is where you will find our Booster meeting agendas, minutes after our meetings, and our financial information.  Please be patient on the financial part as I'm having trouble loading it, but it will be there soon.  You are all part of our Boosters, and we would love to have you come to our meetings.  They are usually the first Tuesday of the month; our next one is March 5th at 6:30 p.m. in the Orchestra room.

Last but definitely not least, don't forget to keep using your King Soopers and Safeway cards when you do your grocery shopping! This is one of the ways we are making up our budget from not doing the $100 fee this year.  We need everyone's help to get the most benefit from this awesome program!

As always, if you have questions about anything in this post or in general, please feel free to contact Sandra.

Orchestra pictures

Photo courtesy of Kelly Maxwell.  See our other pictures on our Facebook page!