Board Meeting Minutes - May 23, 2017
Agenda
1. Meeting with Mr. Williams
2. Band Camp
3. Financials
4. Other items
5. Discuss next steps
Carleen opened the meeting at 6:00 pm.
Williams Meeting:
Carleen and Robyn will be meeting with Mr. Williams on Friday, May 26, 2017.
Topics for discussion:
1. Brady – confirm he will be hiring Brady as the ISS teacher.
a. He is writing part of the show
b. Cannot afford the $22,000 out of the Booster funds to pay for an assistant if he is not hired
c. Mr. Pace has almost 100 marchers signed up for next year with a part time helper (Mr.
Wines). Largest group at WHHS
d. Compare this to how many assistant coaches and techs the football team has – 7
e. Lacrosse, Swim Team and Cheerleaders are all up for getting an assistant, Band needs to be
first on that list.
2. Staff for next year –
a. Blake for visual - $3,000
b. Keri for color guard - $8,000 (lost Dani due to money)
c. 2 nd guard instructor - $3,000 (Lost Emily due to money)
d. Gavin for Percussion - $3,000
3. Painting the parking lot on Wednesday during the half days – need to confirm
4. Field time on Friday nights when there are away games
5. Use of auxiliary gyms during winterguard season
6. Use of cafeteria for drumline
Band Camp:
Tracy is still working on band camp kit. We need to find out what has been donated so far and if we will need to supplement or charge parents for it soon.
We will have a parent meeting after the first day of band camp.
End of Band Camp Celebration – Saturday, August 12 th from 6-10pm
Show parents the performance in the parking lot (Gym if raining) starting at 6pm
Dinner in cafeteria
Pool Party from 8-10pm
Students will need to show up in afternoon for rehearsal. TBD
Financials:
Kathryn advised that the end of the fiscal year is approaching and she will be spending some time
working on the books. Someone else on the board needs to take a look at the books in order to make sure they are correct in case we are audited.
We currently have $858.75 in the BB&T account and $978.81 in the First Citizens account which equals $1837.56.
The PayPal account has been closed and money was transferred to the First Citizens account.
A new PayPal account has been opened in its place and linked to the BB&T account. Kathryn will check on how to close the First Citizen’s account and transfer everything into the BB&T account.
Last year’s props are still for sale.
Other Items:
1. Member Tool Kit – Robyn is ready to launch this week.
2. Discussed Sevier’s band teacher, Mrs. Marsh.
a. Sevier is getting a new principal next year. This would be a good opportunity to reach out to
him/her and discuss brining in another teacher to instruct strings so Mrs. Marsh can focus
on band.
b. Every other middle school in GCS has two teachers.
c. This would free her up to have a class per each section (from 3 band classes to 6 band
classes)
d. These middle school bands need to go to elementary schools in the spring to get kids
excited about band before they sign up for classes.
3. Props Work Group
a. Meet together to discuss the design with Mr. Pace, set an example up and figure out how to
improve them
b. Need to include – Tracy and theater troupe, Shawn Sperry, Russ Smoak, and Henry Wilcox
4. We will publish the leadership job descriptions on the website along with who is in leadership
5. We cannot post any videos of next year’s show until we have received the copyrights for the music.
6. Show shirt for next year
a. Start thinking about it now because we need it for the first football game in August
b. Maybe use Embroider Me company from last year
c. Would like to put competitions on the back and sponsors on the sleeves
d. Robyn is looking into a Blue Ribbon patch that could also go on the shirt.
7. Fundraisers
a. Carleen would like to schedule a Caribbean music event in June featuring the percussion
group. We could charge admission for food/live music and have a cash bar
b. We will look at running concessions for other groups next year. For example, Soccer does
not have concessions. It could be a smaller version of what we do for football.
c. We are looking at possibly having leadership coordinate some Pizza Inn fundraiser dates this
summer.
8. Needs:
a. Scaffolding for parking lot practice. We need a wider platform (6ft). Look at painting
companies that could possibly donate
b. Volunteers – need volunteers for the prop construction, sizing the kids and band camp
immediately
c. Portable container next to the parking lot/field for storage
d. Semi-trailer – Robyn reached out to Greenville Tech’s driver training department and made
some contacts. ShaeAnn is still checking with her contact.
9. Email from parent Robin Broumas regarding athletic department meeting:
Attached is a draft of sponsor levels for the board to consider. Feel free to make adjustments. Some of the amounts may need to be altered once I hear back from the athletic boosters.
In addition to the items listed, we will have the option to sell senior ads in the Senior Night program which the football boosters produces. We will get a percentage of those profits, but I have to hear back from them to know the specs and details.
Also, all the booster clubs need to coordinate the cost and size/specs for the banners. The football boosters is taking the lead on this and will get info back to me next week. If we include the banner in a sponsor level, I think we can charge whatever we want. Regardless, we get to keep 100% of any sponsor banners we sell.
To summarize my meetings with the athletic department:
1) They are excited to include us and everyone has been very positive. This is the time to ask for what we really want and maybe more.
2) We can sell banners and place them on the fence around the football field. The only request was that we all charge the same amount and that we not try to pick off existing sponsors.
3) We will be included in the program. Last year, there was only one program done on senior recognition night and the band can have a page, at least, in this. We can also sell senior ads for our band members.
4) If the football boosters print additional programs, we will have the right to sell ads and will get a recognition page; however, it is unlikely that additional programs will be printed next year.
5) The athletic department will be offering several levels of season tickets -- individual and family, that our band members (and anyone really) can purchase. However, we will not receive any profits from this and we are not allowed to repackage and markup the price.
6) I am still working on figuring out a way to give single game tickets to sponsors. The football boosters is also working on getting approval for this, but to date, Coach Choplin has not been willing to approve this. It may happen, it may not. Would the band be willing to print a special coupon that a sponsor could turn in at the gate for a game ticket, and then we would pay for the number of coupons turned in at the gate? This may be something we can convince the athletic department to agree with; however, we would have to buy the tickets at face value.
7) There is talk about moving the band and the student section closer together at football games. I have heard some rumors about why they were separated in the past, but think this would be a good thing for everyone if we can make it work. One suggestion was to rope off the band section during the 3rd quarter break and the lady I talked to on the football boosters said they would be willing to help provide volunteers to monitor the area if needed. Personally, I think this is a great idea and will help our kids feel more a part of the school.
If there are other things we want to ask for, let me know. The football booster club is meeting on Tuesday and I expect to hear from them on Wednesday. I will keep you posted. One thing to keep in mind, if we get the "right" to do these things, we need to take advantage of that. We have a real opportunity to boost the level of recognition and support for our program. Reggie is willing to sit down with us if needed, but honestly, I think working with the booster club is going to be what we need as long as we have his support.
Let me know if you have questions or need me to do anything else. It would be great if we could get the sponsor levels approved before school is out so we can get a jump on this before the fall. The football and cheer boosters will be out in force and we do not want to miss the opportunity. Maybe we want to get the leadership group involved in contacting some businesses?
WHHS Bands Sponsorship Opportunities (proposed by Robin Broumas):
WHHS Band Boosters is a 501(c) non-profit. All sponsorships and donations to the Band Boosters are tax deductible. In addition to these sponsorship packages, we are able to customize a sponsor package to meet your organizations needs and interest.
Our Band has seen tremendous growth in the past few years. The 2017 Marching Band expects to have over 100 student members. The Band Boosters provides support for the Marching Band, the Color and Winter Guard, the Pep Band, the Concert Band and a Percussion Ensemble.
The Marching Band and Color Guard performs a half time show at all home football games and plays in the stands during home games. In addition, we compete in 6 marching band competitions in September and October. Our Concert Band and Percussion Ensemble perform a winter and Spring Concert at the High School, and competes in concert competition in the Spring. The Pep Band performs at home Basketball Games. We also have a Winter Guard group that competes in Color Guard Competition in the winter and early Spring.
Small performance groups are available to provide entertainment at private and corporate events.
Sponsorship Packages
Friends of the Band -- $25
Listing as a Friends of the Band sponsor on our website, in our newsletters and in our concert
programs.
Listing in our sponsor recognition page in Senior Night Program during football season.
Shout Outs on our social media platforms
Bronze Level Sponsor -- $50
Listing as a Bronze Level sponsor on our website, in our newsletter and in our concert programs.
Logo and link included on our website in sponsor page.
Listing in our sponsor recognition page in Senior Night Program during football season.
Shout Outs on our social media platforms.
Silver Level Sponsor -- $100
Listing as a Silver Level sponsor on our website, in our newsletter and in our concert programs.
Logo and link included on our website in sponsor page.
Listing in our sponsor recognition page in Senior Night Program during football season.
Advertisement in newsletter.
Listing on back of t-shirt.
Shout Outs on our social media platforms.
Gold Level Sponsor -- $200
Listing as a Gold Level sponsor on our website, in our newsletter and in our concert programs.
Logo and link included on our website in sponsor page.
Listing in our sponsor recognition page in Senior Night Program during football season.
Advertisement in newsletter.
Listing on back of t-shirt.
Banner placed on fence around football field for the season. (The banner can be produced by the
booster club for an additional charge or you can provide your own 4x6 banner.)
Shout Outs on our social media platforms.
Meal Sponsor – $500*
I thought this could either be money or food if a restaurant wanted to provide the meal for a competition.
Listing as a Meal Sponsor on our website, in our newsletter and in our concert programs.
Logo and link included on our website in sponsor page.
Listing in our sponsor recognition page in the Senior Night Program.
Advertisement in newsletter.
Listing on back of t-shirt
Banner placed on fence around football field for the season. (The banner can be produced by the
booster club for an additional charge or you can provide your own 4x6 banner.)
Shout Outs on our social media platforms.
Shout Out at competition the day meal provided.
Senior Sponsor -- $ 150*
My thought is this could cover the cost of producing a Photo Banner for each senior to be hung on the Fence during the Football Season and Senior Night. The banner could also be displayed at our concerts in December and May and then maybe “given” to the senior at the end of the year. I think we can get a 4X6 banner for around $100 – we would only make a profit of $50 if we were able to sell one for every senior, and if we could not do everyone, we would need to have a plan to fund one for all or do something different, maybe one banner with all seniors instead of a single banner for each.
Listing as a Senior Sponsor on our website, in our newsletter and in our concert programs.
Logo and link included on our web site in sponsor page.
Listed in our sponsor recognition page in the Senior Night Program.
Instrument/Uniform/Equipment Sponsor – Cost Varies*
Are there large instruments we need/want? We could include a wish list for potential sponsors – you never know, maybe a former player would be willing to donate a gently used instrument. Recognition will be customized to meet sponsor needs.
Scholarships for at-need students – $250*
Cost per student for participating in Marching Band.
$150 – Uniform
35 – Shoes
50 – Compression shirts and shorts
20 – Gloves, socks, miscellaneous gear
Listing as a scholarship provider in our newsletter, on the web site, and in all concert programs.
Shout Out on social media platforms.
*These are sponsor amounts that I totally guested at. Cost for sponsorship should reflect actual cost. Some of these are for expenses we already have. Some of these are for potentially new expenses and student recognition.
Next Steps:
1. Meeting with Mr. Williams on Friday
2. Procure donations for Band Camp, props, show shirts, and scaffolding
3. Finalize band roster for next year – ideally before June 15th
4. Next Board Meeting, June 27 th at 6:30 pm in the Band Room.
Meeting adjourned at 8:20 pm.
