Final Work Before Christmas

Thank you all for a wonderful Christmas Concert!

We had many successes throughout the evening, including raising a significant amount of funds to support Fine Arts at NDC, delivering 700 pounds of vegetables to the Food Bank, and of course some great performances by some hard-working young musicians!

Niel Sampang, Joshua Ampusta, Ray Anub after loading my Honda Fit with 700 pounds of food!

Grades 8-12 Playing Test

Students in Grades 8 through 12 have playing tests due this Friday.  They have chosen their own music, so each student will have a slightly different assignment.  The music room is open before school starting at 7 AM, during lunches, and after school most days until 4:00 PM for advice on how to complete this, but these playing tests should be completed at home.  They've had these assignments for at least a month, so they should be ready for recording soon.  They have backing tracks that have been shared with them on Google Drive, but those backing tracks will not be available after this coming weekend, so they need to complete these assignments this week.  Please help your students get this work completed in a timely fashion.

Breezin' Thru

Students in all grades are working on Breezin' Thru assignments, which can be caught up on at home if necessary.  Grade 7s are to be complete until the end of Chapter 2, Grade 8s and 9s to the end of Chapter 3, and Seniors to the end of Chapter 5.  All students are also working on composition assignments that will be due by the end of the Christmas break.

Ice Melter Fundraiser

Our next fundraiser is underway! Thanks to a partnership with Crop Production Services, we are selling Bear Tracks Ice Melter in 16kg pails.

Bear Tracks Ice Melter is environmentally friendly, fast acting, pet friendly, vegetable and concrete friendly ice melter with blue indications.  It is being sold for $30 for one pail, $50 for two pails.  They are great for both home and your business' storefront.

Deadline for sales is January 12.  I recommend actively seeking out purchasers for this one, perhaps having your students partner up to approach businesses.  If they do intend to approach businesses, please let me know of that intent so I can make sure there are no overlaps.  Both a print form and an online form are available to help with sales.

The Ice Melter can be picked up at the school on January 29 at the back doors between 3 PM and 6:30 PM.  Happy sales!

Wishing You A Merry Christmas!

Please allow me to extend a Merry Christmas wish to each of you and your families.  It is a true blessing to have you and your students in my life, and the music and love of life we enjoy in our classes is a daily lift in my spirits!

Some of you like to offer Christmas presents to teachers on staff at NDC.  I am going to thank you in advance for the consideration, and suggest that rather than chocolates or trinkets, I am hoping you'd consider making a donation to a project I'm involved in called the Alberta Music Education Foundation.  Their goal is to make music education accessible to all students throughout the province through unique programming and granting opportunities.  If you so desire, I would appreciate a gift to that worthy cause.  Of course, I will be thankful for whatever gift you choose to share.

Merry Christmas!  Please enjoy your holidays, and I look forward to seeing you all in the New Year!

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