As a freshman at Jefferson, they have a choice to either be in the Band of Blue marching band or the ninth grade concert band. If students choose marching band, they will transition to the symphonic band and wind symphony after marching season. If the student chooses to be in ninth grade band, they are in ninth grade band for the entire school year. As a sophomore, junior, and senior, all students will begin the year in the Band of Blue marching band and then transition to the symphonic band or wind symphony.

Yes! You will receive one academic credit for band. Your grade is like all other academic grades and is computed into your grade point average.

The foundation of the Jefferson bands is a continuation of the concepts and skills developed in the programs at Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson middle schools. Great music performed with a great sound and technical fluidity is core to the Jefferson tradition.

Mr. Driskell conducts the wind symphony, the premier instrumental ensemble at Jefferson, and directs the marching band. The wind symphony is open to band members in grades nine through 12 by audition.

Mr. Allard directs the symphonic band, ninth grade concert band, and jazz bands. After marching band season in October, all marching band members audition to be in either the wind symphony or symphonic band.

Yes! You can be a member of the Band of Blue and still participate in any school activity that you want. We have a very good relationship with other coaches and directors and will work out any conflicts in schedules that might come up. We encourage you to participate in other activities. We have band members in all sports and activities.

Yes! Ninth graders in good standing are eligible to attend band trips. These trips are every three years.

Jefferson has a limited number of school-owned instruments (tubas, euphoniums, tenor saxes, baritone saxes, oboes, bassoons, bass clarinets, percussion) available for rental. Mr. Allard will contact the middle schools at the end of this school year to make arrangements for incoming ninth graders to check out school rental instruments for the summer through their ninth grade year. The rental fees and contract are very similar to the middle schools.

You need only to pay rent on one instrument a year ($75 fee). This covers rent and repairs on both instruments.

For ninth grade band, symphonic band, and wind symphony:

Boys
Black tux coat
Black tux pants
Black tux tie
Black shoes (purchased by students)
Black socks (purchased by students)
White tux shirt (purchased by students)

Girls
Black concert dress
Black low heel dress shoes (purchased by students)

Band of Blue marching band members, excluding color guard:
Marching band jacket
Marching band pants
White gloves
Band t-shirt
Shako (hat) and plume
Black shoes (purchased by students)
Black socks (purchased by students)

Boys will be measured for shoes and tux shirt in the fall. The school will order these and distribute them during class. We use a uniform shoe and shirt so that all members of the group look the same. Boy’s shoes and shirts are purchased by the students. They are kept for the duration of their high school years. These charges will be added to the student’s band account in November and can be paid anytime after that. Girls provide their own black shoes. The uniform rental fee for band students is $50 for the school year. This fee includes cleanings.

The $50 uniform fee covers all uniform rentals and cleaning fees for the entire year. This fee also takes care of tux and concert dress. The fee is based on the number of ensembles (band, choir, orchestra, show choir, etc) that the individual is in. Please refer to the “Jefferson High School Uniform Fee Chart” that is distributed the first week of school for uniform fees for students also in choir or orchestra.

Throughout the entire school year we will have a number of fundraising activities. In the past these have included candy sales, sucker sales, pizza sales, pie sales, sausage sales, ornament sales, candle sales, and big fruit sales. It is pretty easy to sell if you try. You can pay for uniform fees, shoes, accessories, trips, etc. with fundraiser profits.

You will be informed of when the dry cleaning company will pick up uniforms from Jefferson. Do not dry clean uniforms without the approval of a band director.

When you are in uniform you represent the Band of Blue, Jefferson High School, the city of Cedar Rapids, and the State of Iowa. You need to be either completely in or completely out of uniform while in public. You need to act maturely and with your best behavior while you are in uniform.

Don’t!

Please pay by check or money order. We do not accept cash for both your safety and ours. Please make checks out to Jefferson Bands and turn it into one of the directors, and write your child’s name and what the check is for in the memo portion of the check.

We utilize a music program called “Charms” that deals with individual finances for each band member, along with communication, uniforms, instrument rental, and volunteering.

Simply let Mr. Allard or Mr. Driskell know and we can work out arrangements with a principal. Please contact a director if you have questions.

There are three types of fun fundraisers:
1. Small items such as candy bars and lollipops.
Students can check out one or more boxes of merchandise to sell (parents often take items to work to sell). When a box or more is sold, students keep the cash received from the sale and return a check for the total amount of merchandise sold to the school. Make the check out to Jefferson. We keep an account for each student in band with profits from each student’s account. Students usually receive 40-50% profit from each item on these small merchandise sales. Profit from all sales can be used for uniform fees, shoe fees, accessories, and trips. By law we cannot refund extra profit in cash. If you check out merchandise you need to sell it all. We do not accept left-over merchandise.

2. Special order merchandise.
This includes pizzas and pies. These items are a big potential for profit. Students and parents take orders for merchandise and record customer names on order forms. The customer does not pay until the merchandise is delivered. Students must turn in order forms on the announced date so that the group order can be placed. Merchandise is usually delivered to Jefferson within a week of the turn-in date. All merchandise must be picked up on the delivery date by the student or parent and delivered immediately (frozen merchandise will thaw in a few hours). Customers then pay you when you deliver the merchandise. They make their check out to you, not Jefferson. After you have delivered all the merchandise you pay Jefferson in one check made out to Jefferson. You pay your total bill and we will keep track of the profit in each student’s account. We usually do two or three of these fundraisers a year.

3. Fruit, sausage, and cheese sale.
This can be your biggest profit-maker of the year for students. We do one before the holidays and another in the spring. Some students pay for all their band fees in one sale alone! This sale works like the pizza and pie sale, except you collect the money from the customer at the time that they order the fruit. You then turn in one check made out to Jefferson for your total order. Remember that your customer needs to pay you and then you write a check or money order out to Jefferson for the total amount. Within a week, semi trucks of fruit, sausage, and cheese are delivered to Jefferson. Band parents sort the fruit for spoilage and you pick up your order from Jefferson to deliver to customers.

Students pay in cash. Please pay by check or money order.
Students forget to give the check to the band parents.
Students eat the profits! Please take only what you can sell and sell it.
Students try to give a director their check just as rehearsal begins. Band directors can’t stop a rehearsal with over 200 members to take care of an individual’s fund-raiser order. Students need to come in a little earlier or see a director later in the day to take care of fund-raising questions.

The band could not function without the great parental support that Jefferson parents are known for. Every year hundreds and hundreds of parent hours are volunteered. If you would like to help the Band of Blue at games or competitions, simply sign up at band parent meetings or call a band parent officer. You’ll get to meet new friends while you support your child and the band. If you would like to chaperone the band on a trip, contact a band director. Chaperones usually pay the same rate that students do.

After marching season in October.

All saxophone, trombone, trumpet, drum set, piano, and electric or string bass players in band are encouraged to audition.

Each year the Jefferson Band Parents Association sponsor a potluck at Cherry Hill Park during marching band practices in August. For those in ninth grade band, the students and parents are also invited to attend this potluck. Every parent and family is invited and encouraged to attend. Parents are asked to bring their own table service and a dish.

The first Band Parents Association meeting of the year is held at this potluck. This meeting is optional but is a good way to meet and greet the Band of Blue family! Many students and families go to the Cherry Hill Pool after the potluck.

Communication between the directors, students and parents is very important. We provide students with information daily in rehearsal. We send regular email updates to all band parents and students. Our email list is taken from our “Charms” music program which all parents and students will have access to update their emails, phone number, and addresses.

Attending the monthly band parents meetings (first Tuesday of each month at 6:30 p.m. in the Jefferson band room) will give you the most recent information. The band directors can be contacted during the school day at 319-558-2435 or callard@crschools.us or tdriskell@crschools.us.

“Charms” is a music database that is used for email communication, financial statements, uniform assignments, instrument rentals, and volunteer sign-up. Parents and students can login and update their information.
Log on to Charms and click “enter/log in” in the upper-right corner.
Locate the “parent/student/members login” section.
Login to your student’s program account using the following school code: JEFFERSONBAND
This will bring up the main public page. This will allow you to look at the public calendar for your organization, event list, and handouts and other publicly-shared files, as well as a few other options.
The first time you go here, enter your child’s ID NUMBER (this is your school id number) into the student area password field. You will be directed to the change password screen to set a personal password different from the ID for future use. You may also be directed to create both a unique username and password for the student. There are also mechanisms to recover/reset a lost username/password—when you create your new password, create a hint as well.