Washington County High School

Golden Hawks Marching Band

Dear Band Members and Parents:

I hope you are enjoying your summer break! As many of you know, Mr. Rayner has accepted a
job at Ware County High School and will not return for the 2018-2019 school year. I have been
named Director of Bands at Washington County High School and I am extremely excited to
work with you.

Commitment, Pride, and Respect:

If I had to sum up my expectations in three words, those words would be commitment, pride,
and respect. Commitment from both students and parents will be the determining factor in how
the band program accelerates this year. My goal is to provide a comprehensive music education
to every student and mold them into world-class musicians. With that in mind, student
participation and commitment is extremely important. No one is a substitute player in band.
Everyone is a starting, first-string player and I am hoping that both students and parents help to
make the band a priority. I encourage parents to participate in the band boosters program. I will
be sharing our goals to students and parents in our parent meeting. Our fundraisers will be more
important this year than ever.

In Washington County Schools, we used to say “pride is the feeling that you get when you know
you’ve done your very best.” I hope students will take great joy in their musical and performing
abilities and show a sense of pride in behavior, work ethic, representation of the band, and in
how they handle band equipment. I want students to enjoy the band activity but also feel a sense
of accomplishment.

Lastly, my expectation is that students are respectful to themselves, staff members, and their
peers. Respect speaks volumes concerning an individual’s character. As you know, I am a
product of Washington County Schools and I believe my respect for my peers and teachers as a
student helped me to obtain employment in the school district.

PERFECTION IS THE STANDARD!

Announcements:
I want to make you aware of some important announcements regarding our band program.
Please read this information carefully and review the attached schedules and calendars.

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Band Summer Rehearsals:

As you will see on the attached calendar, we will host two music rehearsals for winds and
percussion in June on Tuesday evenings. However, our intense summer rehearsals for marching
band will begin in July. Please see the attached Summer Rehearsal Calendar for all details.
It is extremely important that all members attend these rehearsals. We do the bulk of our
preparation during these two weeks.

Regular Rehearsal Schedule:

Because of the number of multifaceted and talented students, the Athletics and Fine Arts
Departments makes an intentional effort to allow students to express their talents and creativity
in diverse ways. Because of that effort, I will have firm dates for the entire academic year
available during band camp.

We will use the following schedule for marching band rehearsals during the fall. Following the
final competition, we will reduce the intensity of the rehearsal schedule.

Tuesday Full Band 5:45pm–8:00pm

Thursday Full Band 5:45pm–8:00pm

We will rehearse in the evenings for a number of reasons. First, outdoor rehearsals are more
intense at the beginning of the season. With that in mind, we will take advantage of the cooler
part of the evening. Secondly, we have students who participate in athletics and other fine arts.
We are intentional about being flexible to allow students to participate in the many activities
offered at WCHS.

Football Games:

All of our football games are on Friday’s this year. There will be a detailed schedule on the
Band Calendar for rehearsals, meet, depart, and return times for Friday’s.

Band Boosters

All parents of band students are strongly encouraged to join the Washington County High School
Band Boosters. The band boosters is an active parent organization that assists the Director of
Bands with the operations of the band program such as: inventory of uniforms,
loading/unloading equipment, fundraiser initiatives, providing chaperones, and much more. It is
impossible to operate a band program with excellence without the generous support of parents. I
strongly encourage you to join.

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 Summer Rehearsal Calendar

Please be aware of the following groups to better understand the rehearsal calendar:

FULL BAND: All Band Members including Auxiliary, Woodwinds, Brass,

Percussion, and Drum Majors.
Auxiliary: Dance and Color Guard Members
Woodwinds: Flutes/Piccolos, Clarinets, Alto Saxophones, Tenor Saxophones
Brass: Trumpets, Mellophones, Trombones, Baritones, Tubas (Sousaphones)
Drum Line: All Percussionists
Drum Majors: Drum Major and Assistant Drum Majors
Officers: All Drum Majors, Band Captain, Auxiliary Captains, Section Leaders,
and Squad Leaders
Rookies: Any band member of auxiliary member who has never marched as a
member of the Washington County High School “Golden Hawks”
Marching Band.

Please be aware that the Director of Bands has the right to cancel any rehearsals with 24 hour
advanced notice if he feels like the band is on track. In general, we schedule more rehearsals
than we anticipate needing just in case we get behind due to weather, lack of progress, etc.

Communication:

We will communicate with band students and parents through email and text message. Please
ensure that you are connected to Mr. Wilcher in the following ways:

Full Band: Text the keyword – wchsmarch to 81010

Text Messages regarding all Marching Band activities
Parents: Text the keyword – wchsboosts to 81010
Text Messages regarding WCHS Band Boosters
Instrumentalist: Text the keyword – wacomusic to 81010
Text Messages for the entire district’s musicians regarding pertinent
instrument rentals, meetings, etc.

Charms
Charms Office is a cloud-based database that we will use to student contact information,
inventory all of equipment, inventory uniforms, and communicate. Each student will have their
own Charms account. Please ensure that your student has updated his/her contact information.
Instructions are forthcoming.

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 Summer Rehearsal Calendar
Every band member should bring 2 cases of water.
Girls should bring sweet snacks. Boys should bring salty snacks.
July 2-6, 2018

Tuesday, 3 6:00pm-8:00pm Winds & Percussion Music Rehearsal

Designed to get a head start on music

Thursday, 5 9:00am-4:00pm Leadership Camp

times may change For individuals who desire to be leaders
lunch on your own

Friday, 6 9:00am-4:00pm Leadership Camp

times may change For individuals who desire to be leaders
lunch on your own

July 9-13, 2018

Tuesday, 10 6:00pm-8:00pm Winds & Percussion Music Rehearsal

Designed to get a head start on music

Friday, 13 9:00am-12:00pm Rookie Camp

All new marchers

July 16-20, 2018

Monday, 16 2:00pm-6:00pm Rookie Camp

All new marchers
6:00pm-7:30pm Full Band Parent Meeting
All marching band members

Tuesday, 17 8:00am-4:00pm Music & Marching Camp

Wednesday, 18 8:00am-12:00pm Music & Marching Camp

Thursday, 19 8:00am-4:00pm Music & Marching Camp

Friday, 20 8:00am-12:00pm Music & Marching Camp

July 23-27, 2018

Monday, 23 8:00am-6:00pm Band Camp

Tuesday, 24 8:00am-8:00pm Band Camp (Intense)

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 Wednesday, 25 8:00am-6:00pm Band Camp

Thursday, 26 8:00am-8:00pm Band Camp (Intense)

Friday, 27 8:00am-6:00pm Band Camp

July 30-August 3, 2018

Monday, 30 5:00pm-8:30pm Marching Band Rehearsal

Tuesday, 31 5:00pm-8:30pm Marching Band Rehearsal

Once school begins, we will rehearse on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 5:45pm until
8:00pm and on Friday’s after school from 3:45pm until 5:00pm during the month of August.

Saturday Morning Drill Camps will be scheduled on the following days during August and
September. Please remember that these rehearsals may be cancelled in advance if we do not
need them. Generally, times are announced the week of the rehearsal and will either be:
• 8:00am-12:00noon,
• 8:00am-11:00am, OR
• 9:00am-12:00noon
Drill Camps: August 18, September 15, September 22

Once we complete the competitive marching activities, rehearsal times will be curtailed. Toward
the end of the marching season, we will reduce the number of marching band practices. At this
point, the amount of rehearsals is dependent on the football playoff activities, etc.

Students will receive a comprehensive annual calendar of events during band camp.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach me.

D. Jamaal Wilcher,
Director of Bands
Washington County High School
420 Riddleville Road
Sandersville, Georgia 31082
478-552-2324 ext. 2220
jwilcher@washington.k12.ga.us

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 WASHINGTON COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL
GOLDEN HAWKS
Varsity Football
2018
DATE Opponent Location Time

AUG 10 Vidalia Vidalia 7:30

ScrImmage
AUG 17 Baldwin Milledgeville 7:30

AUG 24 Jefferson County House of Pain 7:30

AUG 31 OPEN OPEN

SEP 7 Greenbrier House of Pain 7:30

SEP 14 Swainsboro Swainsboro 7:30

SEP 21 OPEN OPEN

SEP 28 * East Laurens East Dublin 7:30

OCT 5 * Bleckley County House of Pain 7:30

homecoming
OCT 12 * Dodge County Eastman 7:30

OCT 19 * Southwest macon House of Pain 7:30

OCT 26 * Northeast Macon Macon 7:30

NOV 2 * Dublin House of Pain 7:30

Senior night
NOV 9 First Round TBD

NOV 16 Second Round TBD

NOV 23 Quarterfinals TBD

NOV 30 Semifinals TBD

DEC 7 State championship Mercedez Benz Stadium

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