Its the beginning of the school year which means that its time for Back to School shopping. While I might not be buying back packs, note book paper, or markers the band does need a good amount of supplies to get the school year off to a good start. Here's all the things I can remember I did last week that were thrifty:
-Music Folder Assembly: The folders are free because we get them from a local music store that we work with Bronstein Music. We also have stopped using a warm-up book and some of my staff members (Erik and Reno) have written a warm-up packet for the program that includes lip slurs, scale exercises, and percussion exercises to accompany the wind warm-ups that develop technique that is appropriate for where they are right now as players (ie we can change them as the players develop)...easily and for free. I also have materials that I received from other teaches (worksheets, scale sheets) that I use and none of which I ever purchased. (And these materials were generated by the teachers so its not like I am breaking copyright and photocopying published materials). Finally all the paper that was used to photocopy these materials was donated to our programs (thanks parents!!!)
-The mellophones: We ordered mellophone mouthpieces. Then we ended up finding some mellophones to borrow (we traded Evergreen Valley a trombone and some books and they lent us two mellophones). Unfortunately we got the horns yesterday and found they came with brand new mouthpieces (after we had just ordered new ones) but I checked and Woodwind & Brasswind provided free shipping and has a great return policy so in the end everything worked out!
-We got a guitar amp donated thanks to a former band parent spotting an ad on Craigs List from King Amplification. They are a Fender warranty center and often end up with a surplus of amps. So they wanted to donate one to a local music program. So we got a sweet small guitar amp that will work perfect for our jazz combo program! Free!
-The band program has several awesome upcoming fundraisers that we are trying out. I will be profiling these this week as we launch our first official fundraiser this week. (Its a Apple Gift Card Drawing. We are selling $10 drawing tickets to win a $500 Apple Gift Card. We will purchase multiple gift cards depending on how many tickets we sell so the odds are actually really good!). I would love to see us make $18,000 on this fundraiser!
-You might remember all that fabric that I got on sale at Jo Ann Fabrics (we saved around $750 using coupons a few weeks ago). We are making bands that go around the hat and the waist of the jacket to "spice" up our marching band uniforms. One of our awesome parent volunteers, Gina is making the bands for the hats as we speak. I'm going to learn how to attach them and then we are going to start assembling them on Wednesday! There will be pics to follow for sure.
-And all music teachers, don't forget. See if your local music stores have some kind of rewards program. Our local music store, Music Village has a program where students can turn in receipts from their purchases at the store to me. I turn them into the music store and then the music stores gives me a 5% reward back. That's not half bad if your students are purchasing stuff regularly and also purchasing large stuff (like instruments). So last year I turned in a ton of receipts and got a $552 gift card. I have been purchasing mostly mouthpieces and music with it and this week I purchased a mouthpiece and some ligatures.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Friday, August 5, 2011
Thrifty Find of the Day-Use those coupons!
The thrifty band director is back! Its been a nice long summer vacation but its band camp time which means its time to start being thrifty again in the classroom. I will be doing my best to blog about how we run our season from the budget process to creative meals through the marching band season that are very inexpensive to how to save money within your budget.
Today's thrifty find is going to save us about $800!!! What the heck are we doing?
Well....it all started with our marching band uniforms. They are old. They need updating and we just aren't there financially yet to replace them. So our show designer came up with some "alternations" to the uniforms (basically making a waistband, gauntlets, and band for the hat) that is white and gold. It is going to look awesome and we plan on using these "uniform alterations" until we purchase new uniforms (hopefully in a few years).
We can't purchase these items previously made due to the construction of our current uniform. So we convinced a guard parent (Gina) who is an awesome and super crafty lady (as well as thrifty) design the pattern and figure out what fabric we needed etc. You can check out some of Gina's creations on her site http://www.ginabahrens.com
We figured out we needed two different fabrics and we needed 60 yards of it. Gina also brought me two coupons to use from Joann Fabrics We went to the fabric store and found out two very important things: yes we can pre-order the fabric & use we can use our 40% and 50% off coupons!
What does this mean. Total savings on $713.73. Now that's thrifty....
A special shout out today goes to my trusty band camp office assistant Spencer for coming up with the first thrifty find of the day (the moral of this story is look in your storage bins occasionally to see what you've got in there). Spencer noticed that we had stored white gloves in there (the last time we wore them was his freshman year which was 2003).....the same white gloves that we are switching to for this year. Meaning we might not have to buy very many gloves this year (saving us another couple hundred bucks).
Today's thrifty find is going to save us about $800!!! What the heck are we doing?
Well....it all started with our marching band uniforms. They are old. They need updating and we just aren't there financially yet to replace them. So our show designer came up with some "alternations" to the uniforms (basically making a waistband, gauntlets, and band for the hat) that is white and gold. It is going to look awesome and we plan on using these "uniform alterations" until we purchase new uniforms (hopefully in a few years).
We can't purchase these items previously made due to the construction of our current uniform. So we convinced a guard parent (Gina) who is an awesome and super crafty lady (as well as thrifty) design the pattern and figure out what fabric we needed etc. You can check out some of Gina's creations on her site http://www.ginabahrens.com
We figured out we needed two different fabrics and we needed 60 yards of it. Gina also brought me two coupons to use from Joann Fabrics We went to the fabric store and found out two very important things: yes we can pre-order the fabric & use we can use our 40% and 50% off coupons!
What does this mean. Total savings on $713.73. Now that's thrifty....
A special shout out today goes to my trusty band camp office assistant Spencer for coming up with the first thrifty find of the day (the moral of this story is look in your storage bins occasionally to see what you've got in there). Spencer noticed that we had stored white gloves in there (the last time we wore them was his freshman year which was 2003).....the same white gloves that we are switching to for this year. Meaning we might not have to buy very many gloves this year (saving us another couple hundred bucks).
Saturday, May 14, 2011
California could cut school year by several weeks - San Jose Mercury News
California could cut school year by several weeks - San Jose Mercury News
This would would be an absolute tragedy. I'm all for a little longer summer but this would just be a disaster. First off, we would once again be punishing the students who leave in the less affluent parts of the state, in the district that are struggling the most, since they would have to probably cut the most days. Our students would be at a greater disadvantage at simply knowing content for their subject areas. They simply would have learned less than other students putting them potentially behind students in other states and other parts of the state (depending on where they lived) when they apply and enter college and even enter the work force. If we were done with schools 3-5 weeks earlier our school year would be out before the nationwide AP testing (for those of you that don't know AP testing dates are not set by the district or school site but are the same nation wide).
When I read this article I did notice that someone posted that the government is only worried about the budget and that the teachers are only worried about their salary. I'm not only worried about my salary, I'm first worried about the kids, but for the first time in my career I have been forced to actually worry about myself. I'm never one who ends up doing the "work to rule" events that our teachers union puts on. I think they serve a potentially great point, to teach others how much work we do for our job that is outside of what we get paid. I personally run an entire weekly summer program in which I do not get paid at all.
But I am worried about my salary. I'm very worried about what will happen to me if we loose 3-5 weeks of school. With this job market and the loss of district summer school (which I could not have taught anyway since I'm a music teacher and we never had music in summer school) how the heck am I going to find a part time job for the summer when so many people can't find even full time work? How will I, like so many of my colleagues continue to do the same job for less pay? Heck, I already do have a summer job but I doubt I can ask for a raise, afterall its another public institution who is basically broke (San Jose State University). I know there are many people out there who are not in education who face this, but there are plenty of people outside education that would start looking for a new company to work for if that continued for years. How many people want to do the same job or more work for less pay? How many people want to do that for multiple years in a row? For the first time in my entire career, I'm honestly scared of that and it actually gets me down and makes me stressed. I wonder about my personal economic stability. How will I ever get out of this pile of student loan debt that I took out to further my career? How will I ever finish off paying off the credit card debt I got myself into when I first moved to the Silicon Valley and could not afford to live here? Screw home owner ship, that's the least of my concerns/interests at this point. Staying afloat is my biggest fear.
It makes me angry because I can't look at my students and say: If you work really hard in school and go to college and do really well, when you get into the work place you will be well taken care of. But I can't live in the doom and gloom all the time. What I can say with a smile though, is that I still believe education to be a noble profession, one in which I never ever regret entering and despite the budget issues and my personal concern about my own financial well being and future, I do my best to remain optimistic because ultimately this massive budget crisis is not my fault and its certainly not my students fault so I simply have to make the best of the time I am with them for the days that I am given with them each year.
I am I scared about the state of education in California? Absolutely. But as someone who is a 'fixer' of problems, I have zero idea of where to start. What I do know is we can not take away our students' education like this.
This would would be an absolute tragedy. I'm all for a little longer summer but this would just be a disaster. First off, we would once again be punishing the students who leave in the less affluent parts of the state, in the district that are struggling the most, since they would have to probably cut the most days. Our students would be at a greater disadvantage at simply knowing content for their subject areas. They simply would have learned less than other students putting them potentially behind students in other states and other parts of the state (depending on where they lived) when they apply and enter college and even enter the work force. If we were done with schools 3-5 weeks earlier our school year would be out before the nationwide AP testing (for those of you that don't know AP testing dates are not set by the district or school site but are the same nation wide).
When I read this article I did notice that someone posted that the government is only worried about the budget and that the teachers are only worried about their salary. I'm not only worried about my salary, I'm first worried about the kids, but for the first time in my career I have been forced to actually worry about myself. I'm never one who ends up doing the "work to rule" events that our teachers union puts on. I think they serve a potentially great point, to teach others how much work we do for our job that is outside of what we get paid. I personally run an entire weekly summer program in which I do not get paid at all.
But I am worried about my salary. I'm very worried about what will happen to me if we loose 3-5 weeks of school. With this job market and the loss of district summer school (which I could not have taught anyway since I'm a music teacher and we never had music in summer school) how the heck am I going to find a part time job for the summer when so many people can't find even full time work? How will I, like so many of my colleagues continue to do the same job for less pay? Heck, I already do have a summer job but I doubt I can ask for a raise, afterall its another public institution who is basically broke (San Jose State University). I know there are many people out there who are not in education who face this, but there are plenty of people outside education that would start looking for a new company to work for if that continued for years. How many people want to do the same job or more work for less pay? How many people want to do that for multiple years in a row? For the first time in my entire career, I'm honestly scared of that and it actually gets me down and makes me stressed. I wonder about my personal economic stability. How will I ever get out of this pile of student loan debt that I took out to further my career? How will I ever finish off paying off the credit card debt I got myself into when I first moved to the Silicon Valley and could not afford to live here? Screw home owner ship, that's the least of my concerns/interests at this point. Staying afloat is my biggest fear.
It makes me angry because I can't look at my students and say: If you work really hard in school and go to college and do really well, when you get into the work place you will be well taken care of. But I can't live in the doom and gloom all the time. What I can say with a smile though, is that I still believe education to be a noble profession, one in which I never ever regret entering and despite the budget issues and my personal concern about my own financial well being and future, I do my best to remain optimistic because ultimately this massive budget crisis is not my fault and its certainly not my students fault so I simply have to make the best of the time I am with them for the days that I am given with them each year.
I am I scared about the state of education in California? Absolutely. But as someone who is a 'fixer' of problems, I have zero idea of where to start. What I do know is we can not take away our students' education like this.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Check out this great article
I know many of you are finding this blog through the article that I was featured in in the San Jose Mercury News but for my readers who have not seen it yet please check it out. Santa Clara County Programs Top the Charts.
For those of you that are new to the blog....well welcome and stop by often. I'm getting some great emails inviting me to local schools fundraising events and sharing their stories of support. Feel free to post on this blog, stop by often and email me if you feel so inclined.
stmusicteacher@yahoo.com
Want to see some great concerts this week? Its not too late. Santa Teresa's Concert Band, Symphonic Band, Wind Ensemble & Color Guard concert is tonight in the Santa Teresa High School Theater at 7pm.
Thursday night we will be featuring our Jazz Combos A & B, Jazz Bands 2 & 3, and our Guitar Ensemble at 7pm in our theater.
Saturday May 14th from 12:00-3:15pm come down to the Santa Teresa Branch of the San Jose Public Library for an event "Meddle with Music: A Teen Library Invasion" in which there will be performances by the Santa Teresa Jazz Bands, Combos,Ukulele Ensemble, and Saxophone Ensemble!
But most importantly thanks for supporting school music programs and thanks for stopping by!
For those of you that are new to the blog....well welcome and stop by often. I'm getting some great emails inviting me to local schools fundraising events and sharing their stories of support. Feel free to post on this blog, stop by often and email me if you feel so inclined.
stmusicteacher@yahoo.com
Want to see some great concerts this week? Its not too late. Santa Teresa's Concert Band, Symphonic Band, Wind Ensemble & Color Guard concert is tonight in the Santa Teresa High School Theater at 7pm.
Thursday night we will be featuring our Jazz Combos A & B, Jazz Bands 2 & 3, and our Guitar Ensemble at 7pm in our theater.
Saturday May 14th from 12:00-3:15pm come down to the Santa Teresa Branch of the San Jose Public Library for an event "Meddle with Music: A Teen Library Invasion" in which there will be performances by the Santa Teresa Jazz Bands, Combos,Ukulele Ensemble, and Saxophone Ensemble!
But most importantly thanks for supporting school music programs and thanks for stopping by!
Monday, April 25, 2011
Hey readers! I need your feedback!
Hello all you thrifty band director followers-all 19 of you that officially follow me and the few hundred of you who read my blogs-thanks!
Now I need your help. We have been collecting ink jet cartridges for recycling but we have not made the money that I had hoped to on it and this is a result of the vendor that we have been using (a local business not to be named). But that's not the point of this blog.
The point is that I need a new vendor for ink jet cartridge and cell phone recycling.
Right now I'm looking at switching to Phoneraiser.
So my question to all of you is that do you do ink jet cartridge recycling or cell phone recycling or both? How do you do it? Do you do it ongoing through the year or dedicated drives (certain times of year) or both? Whose your vendor and the big question...how well have you done?
Thanks and when I get this going don't worry...I will blog about it!
Now I need your help. We have been collecting ink jet cartridges for recycling but we have not made the money that I had hoped to on it and this is a result of the vendor that we have been using (a local business not to be named). But that's not the point of this blog.
The point is that I need a new vendor for ink jet cartridge and cell phone recycling.
Right now I'm looking at switching to Phoneraiser.
So my question to all of you is that do you do ink jet cartridge recycling or cell phone recycling or both? How do you do it? Do you do it ongoing through the year or dedicated drives (certain times of year) or both? Whose your vendor and the big question...how well have you done?
Thanks and when I get this going don't worry...I will blog about it!
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Los Gatos High School Crab Feed
Hello All! Well I do apologize on my lack of blogging lately. It sure has been awhile and I do hope that I will not have another extended absence. I have been busy being thrifty and being a band director but there has not been much time for blogging in that. I would like to start getting back to some of my promised blogs and one of them is this one.
I had the pleasure of attending the Los Gatos High School Crab Feed. I will say upfront that I give both this kind of fundraiser and this particular event 5 stars. I think after you read this and see the pictures you will understand why.
The event was a class act. I actually found out about it NOT because I am friends with the band director, Chris Marra, but because I just so happened to be shopping in downtown Los Gatos and saw a very nice poster in a store front that caught my eye. Being someone that enjoys crab feeds (and is always looking for great fundraisers) this got my attention. I also have learned something living in the bay area. If you want to go to an event like a pancake breakfast or a crab feed, often times the best ones are hosted by the slightly more affluent communities (however I will say that not teaching in an affluent community we put on some darn good events so its NOT an always, please don't hate that comment too much).
I promptly purchased a ticket and decided to attend. They had a very helpful website as well, which I think is really important when running an event like this. I was very impressed when I approached the event and found this great signage at the exit right off the freeway.
For those of you that don't know much about Los Gatos High School it is in beautiful downtown Los Gatos, California, which is a pretty amazing and picturesque place. I also feel like I'm taking a mini-vacation when I am there.
Here's the high school to give you an idea.
And here is the courtyard.
This is the church where the event was held. I think for a five star event like this that location is key. You have to find a place that is going to work well for the guests and the event (clean, good parking, decorate-able and affordable). Based on the profits earned this location seemed to be a great fit. It was particularly good for the Los Gatos HS Band students because they performed at the event and so moving equipment etc. was snap since the church is next to the school.
They did a great job decorating for the event.
Clearly marked entrances to the event are a plus!
And the students performing was a great touch!
The entry way for checking in/purchasing tickets was helpful and the parents were very friendly and helpful!
You could purchase additional cookies & bread which is a great way to get a little extra something to eat and a little extra $$$ for the event.
It's hard to see but inside the lobby that you entered to purchase your tickets etc. you could also purchase tickets for a raffle. Each section created a basket for the raffle and there were members of each section with the basket to describe it. I purchased 20 tickets for $20. I talked with the students who knew a lot about their baskets and were very friendly. I love seeing students actively participating in fundraising events that directly benefit them! The baskets were AWESOME! I fell in love with the flute section's basket and put nearly all my tickets in that one (while giving a few to my fellow percussion section's basket). This raffle is another FANTASTIC way to enhance your event's profits, especially if each section gets most of the items donated.
Inside the hall with the tables set up for dinner there was also an AMAZING silent auction with several outstanding items donated by community members. Here are just a few examples. Regardless of your socio-economic/what you are able to get donated for the event one of the best silent auction items for any event is premium seats for graduation. Its usually free to you as the event AND its one of the most highly bid on items. Great addition LGHS Band!
Every detail of this event was handled and as you can see here is a great menu and the room was very well put together.
Here's a little video from two of the students describing the "dining" portion of the event.
The food was incredible! Here's the appetizer!
I had the pleasure of attending the Los Gatos High School Crab Feed. I will say upfront that I give both this kind of fundraiser and this particular event 5 stars. I think after you read this and see the pictures you will understand why.
The event was a class act. I actually found out about it NOT because I am friends with the band director, Chris Marra, but because I just so happened to be shopping in downtown Los Gatos and saw a very nice poster in a store front that caught my eye. Being someone that enjoys crab feeds (and is always looking for great fundraisers) this got my attention. I also have learned something living in the bay area. If you want to go to an event like a pancake breakfast or a crab feed, often times the best ones are hosted by the slightly more affluent communities (however I will say that not teaching in an affluent community we put on some darn good events so its NOT an always, please don't hate that comment too much).
I promptly purchased a ticket and decided to attend. They had a very helpful website as well, which I think is really important when running an event like this. I was very impressed when I approached the event and found this great signage at the exit right off the freeway.
And here is the courtyard.
The food was incredible! Here's the appetizer!
The entire meal was fantastic! I personally enjoyed the bib!
And as you can see Mr. Marra was very excited as well!
These hats that the students wore were a great touch! Thanks for letting me try one out!
Here's what clenched the night for me! I WON THE FLUTE SECTION BASKET (that's the one I really wanted). It was the last item they raffled off!
Check out my sweet loot! This included hot cocoa, chocolate covered pretzels (my fav), an awesome ceramic Starbucks mug, itunes gift card, Starbucks gift card, and why I really wanted the basket? The sweet hand knitted hat!
And here I am with that hat.
Now when I left the event I had such a positive "taste" in my mouth about the event and still do. I always have to say that I was a little nervous about how much I would like the event because I didn't know very many folks and that they were not serving alcohol. DON'T LET THIS DETER YOU FROM DOING AN EVENT LIKE THIS. Its often really hard to find a venue that will let you serve alcohol, or many folks in your organization may not be comfortable with having alcohol at a school related event. To be honest with you, I didn't miss it. The event was GREAT without it!
What really put this event for me at 5.5 stars if that's possible was the follow up afterwards. I received this letter and picture a few weeks later. Outstanding job LGHS. I hope to "steal" some of your ideas and will be at your event again next year!
Great Job Los Gatos HS Music Boosters, Students, & Staff. Excellent event.
Thanks for being my first fundraising event profiled on the blog and your
Thanks for being my first fundraising event profiled on the blog and your
thrifty rating is ***** (5 stars).
Saturday, March 19, 2011
A Thrifty Way to Help Japan-SOCKS
I am the kind of person who gets really moved when terrible things happen to people. If I wasn't a music teacher, I am pretty convinced that I might be working for a humanitarian relief agency somewhere. But I am a music teacher and so in the wake of this crisis in Japan I have been struggling to figure out what the answer to the question "what can we do to help?" is. So at my concert, one of my band parents and friends', Robin, suggested that we have donations jars and we can make a donation to the Red Cross. Done.
But I wanted something more. Something that my students, if they choose to, could get involved in. Because, like me, I think many of my students are seeking a way, beyond just posting on facebook that they are troubled by what has happened and want to do something to help.
My friend Nancy Moser (via someone else via someone else) on facebook posted about "Socks for Japan" http://jasonkelly.com/helpjapan/
Its pretty simple and I read the website, the facebook, the nay-sayers comments etc. I'm doing it. Why? Because socks are cheap & thrifty and oddly enough yesterday I had my own personal mishap with socks yesterday that WAS IN NO WAY COMPARABLE TO WHAT IS GOING ON IN JAPAN BUT MADE ME REALLY THINK ABOUT HOW SIMPLE SOCKS ARE AND HOW IMPORTANT THEY CAN BE TO SOMEONE!
Everything happens for a reason. So I took my large jazz band program to the Santa Cruz Jazz Festival and it poured. I was dressed in my cute dress and heels and it poured down rain while we were inside as the storm had finally hit us. I went out to the bus and in the walk my feet got soaked. I went in and grabbed my change of clothes, went in the bathroom to change and found that I had everything I needed but socks. We were stuck there for several more hours and our bus did not have heat. And I had no socks. I was frustrated and freezing and I do not live through an Earthquake, loose everything, it was not snowing (like it is in many parts of Japan right now) and I had more pairs at home to look forward to (and I have a home).
So when I got home and saw Nancy's post it resonated with me. This is something simple and easy that we can do to help. Better yet, Jason, who is coordinating this whole thing, suggests and provides resources for writing a care letter to include in the socks.
So here's what we will be doing in my band room. Collecting socks. We will be putting the sock sets in plastic bag to ease their sorting upon arriving in Japan. In zip lock plastic bag of socks we will be including a care letter. If you do donate you can send your own (please follow Jason's instructions on his website) or my student aides (and student volunteers) will do so for you. We will leave our contact information in the letter as the Santa Teresa Band Program/Santa Teresa HS Community.
A simple & thrifty way to help! Socks for Japan :)
But I wanted something more. Something that my students, if they choose to, could get involved in. Because, like me, I think many of my students are seeking a way, beyond just posting on facebook that they are troubled by what has happened and want to do something to help.
My friend Nancy Moser (via someone else via someone else) on facebook posted about "Socks for Japan" http://jasonkelly.com/helpjapan/
Its pretty simple and I read the website, the facebook, the nay-sayers comments etc. I'm doing it. Why? Because socks are cheap & thrifty and oddly enough yesterday I had my own personal mishap with socks yesterday that WAS IN NO WAY COMPARABLE TO WHAT IS GOING ON IN JAPAN BUT MADE ME REALLY THINK ABOUT HOW SIMPLE SOCKS ARE AND HOW IMPORTANT THEY CAN BE TO SOMEONE!
Everything happens for a reason. So I took my large jazz band program to the Santa Cruz Jazz Festival and it poured. I was dressed in my cute dress and heels and it poured down rain while we were inside as the storm had finally hit us. I went out to the bus and in the walk my feet got soaked. I went in and grabbed my change of clothes, went in the bathroom to change and found that I had everything I needed but socks. We were stuck there for several more hours and our bus did not have heat. And I had no socks. I was frustrated and freezing and I do not live through an Earthquake, loose everything, it was not snowing (like it is in many parts of Japan right now) and I had more pairs at home to look forward to (and I have a home).
So when I got home and saw Nancy's post it resonated with me. This is something simple and easy that we can do to help. Better yet, Jason, who is coordinating this whole thing, suggests and provides resources for writing a care letter to include in the socks.
So here's what we will be doing in my band room. Collecting socks. We will be putting the sock sets in plastic bag to ease their sorting upon arriving in Japan. In zip lock plastic bag of socks we will be including a care letter. If you do donate you can send your own (please follow Jason's instructions on his website) or my student aides (and student volunteers) will do so for you. We will leave our contact information in the letter as the Santa Teresa Band Program/Santa Teresa HS Community.
A simple & thrifty way to help! Socks for Japan :)
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