Hello Centennial HS Marching Band fans,

I have been remiss at keeping this site updated with new information about the marching band program. I wish I could say there was new information but the school district has shown no sign of wanting to bring the fall competitive marching program back into existence. The Winter Percussion program was cancelled as well. I will post any news we hear that affects the 2010-2011 school year marching season. Unless their is a change of heart by the Centennial school district board chair, Shar Giard, we are not anticipating having a marching band. Feel free to write or call her and express your thanks for destroying one of the most successfull marching music programs in the state.

Shar Giard, Chair
261 SW Nancy Circle
Gresham, OR 97030-6525
503-666-7264

The Band Parent Association is still active and is focused on the Winterguard program. We have a strong program for 2010 and as of this writing have already recorded a 1st place in competition. A new website has been created to post news, pictures and video @ chsguard.org,

If you care to make a donation to the winterguard program you can use the paypal link on this page.

thank you
Mark Huff - webmaster

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thanks to everyone who came and helped with the winterguard recruitment table at the open house last night. By all accounts it was a great success. We had many signup to receive more information. Our hope would be to get as many of those as possible to come out to a skills camp day and get an introduction to the sport. We can have up to 32 so there is lots of room for newbies.

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Sorry I was not able to attend the meeting with Mr. Baier and Mr. Garrett. My understanding from talking with folks that were at the meeting is Mr. Baier decided to ignore what the district board had promised and for “no reason” said there would be no winter percussion season.

Mr. Baier also stated “I don’t care about those kids”. Unbeliveable.

Mark

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Todd has said there will be a parent meeting Tuesday 9/15 at the High School community room. The administration is supposed to attend and help straighten out all the confusion about what the BPA is supposed to be doing at this point. Please call around to any current band/colorguard parents and let them know about the meeting. I really dont know how many people are still looking a the website for information. If plans for the meeting change I will post updates here and on the BPA facebook group.

Mark Huff

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The band parent association board met on Monday to discuss the state of the Marching Band and Colorguard for the 2009/10 seasons.
The board is working on an agreement with the district to set the expectations for the year.
We understand the need of all parents to know what is going on. We will schedule a parent meeting asap when we can bring complete understanding of the facts and what will need to be done to move forward.

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Its been awhile since I’ve posted anything here. We will be putting together a parent meeting very soon so stay tuned for a date/time for that.

The district finally put the minutes on their website for the meeting help on June 17th where they talked about shutting down the band program. Reading through the minutes doesnt give any sense of the anxiety that was present at the meeting between the board and the band parents. It does not mention the attempts of the band parents to be heard while the board and Dr. Mckean were discussing the report. Please read the minutes and be prepared to talk to the board at their next scheduled meeting on 7/15.

get the minutes

Mark Huff

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Tuesday evening started with a number of kids, parents and alumni waving “save our marching band” signs and banners in front of the school on 182nd. At 6:20 we we all filed into the library and got the opportunity to give 2+ hours of testimony to members of the district board as to why its wrong to shutdown the marching band and colorguard program. We talked from the heart and let them know what these programs mean to the students and the community. I was pleased to see the media there to cover the event. KGW did an excellent job showing the band on their newscasts last night, you can see the video and read the article on their website. I look forward to reading the Gresham Outlook article and we also expect to see the Oregonian print a supporting article.

I was very appreciative that Michael Allen Harrison came and spoke to the importance of music as part of the core curriculum.

But most of all I want to thank the students. As expected they conducted themselves in the tradition of all CHSMB members. They spoke of the life lessons learned , respect and dicipline, hard work, acceptance of others, and everything that this program means to them.
I am proud to say I am a part of this organization

Mark Huff

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I was just informed that Todds dad has been admitted to the hospital for a heart attack. Please keep them in your prayers.

A meeting had been talked about for tonight (Monday) at the Treadways but that will be cancelled. We all need to be prepared for the meeting on Tuesday at the High School.

Mark Huff

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There was a letter sent out to all current band member parents inviting them to a meet and greet with the new band director. This is a call to action for everyone to attend and show support for the Marching Band and Colorguard program. Whether you are current, alumni, CMS, primary grades, or just connected in some way we invite you to showup at the High School Library for the meeting at 6:30pm. Please be there EARLY!

This could be the last chance we have to save our marching band program. We are not making this a meet and greet, this is our opprotunity to voice our disdain about the person hired as the new director and the school board decision to cut the marching band program.
Please, Please , Please…if you support the CHS Marching Band and Colorguard we need you there.

thanks

mark huff
BPA communications

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Subject: A sad day at CHS

In a very sad turn of events the Centennial School district board decided to shutdown the 2009/10 fall/winter marching program. A contingent of Band Parent Assc members were present when the district board was presented with the recommendation to continue the music program but only march for the rose parade.
The decision was made in part to the changing demographics of the district which they claim is likely to reduce the number of students interested in marching band. Their idea is to help the district music program by “getting back to the basics of teaching music”. They said that other area music directors are seeing less students in marching band. They are concerned that it is not worth putting on a field show with the number of students involved. What about schools such as Astoria and Liberty that have recently started programs and are fielding shows competing in single A with CHS with less than half our numbers. Centennial fielded 75 students in 2008. They claimed the number of students in the rose parade was 40 and that 10 of those were middle school students. To our amazement the board president, Shar Giard, would not allow comment from any of our group even though it was clear they were acting on mis-information about the number of students currently participating in marching band and colorguard. They did not give any consideration at all to the members of the colorguard as they are not considered band students.

The CHS Band Parents assc have had several meetings with the superintendent, CHS administration and members of the board and we’ve had representation at all their meetings. All along they have been telling us that they are very supportive of the marching band program, that they wanted it to continue. It seems that at least some of them have had other agendas.

In case you had not heard we were also in a transition of directors this year, spearheaded in part by the band parents assc. because we wanted to see more dicipline and control of support staff in the program. Mr. Dave Mann has served as the director since Bret Cappelluti and with great enthusiam and effort. We applaud him for his time and wish him well in the future.
The position of director was posted and a number of very qualified applications were received. In the end the position was given to Mr. Claud Garrett, the current photography teacher at CHS, who had also applied. The administration said their hands were tied because of union rules and the fact that many teachers were being laid off due to the budget crisis. It seems Mr. Garrett had the right to bump anyone the school might have hired from outside. All that said the fact is that while Mr. Garrett has the credentials to teach music he has no interest in the marching music program, doesn’t even pretend to like it. He came to a band parent meeting last week and stated that the decision of whether there would be fall marching was out of his control. But it was very clear that given the choice he would not want to run it.

It is very sad that there could be no future competitive marching band at Centennial. Certainly for the Juniors and Seniors of 2009/10 the chance to take the field in competition again looks very dim.

If you feel moved to do so you either write or call the superintendent, Dr. Mckean and all the current district board members and remind them that this is a program that has a rich history and should be preserved. You can find their contact information at this link..

http://www.centennial.k12.or.us/contacts/contacts_board.php

I invite you to comment

Mark Huff
Communications Director CHS Band Parents Assc.

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