Attention 5th Grade Students and Parents! Join our BAND FAMILY at Gray.

Do you need experience to join band?

o No experience is necessary to join band!
You will learn how to read music and play an instrument!
We offer two beginning bands with small class sizes of 70 or less.
Every child will receive the guidance necessary to be successful.
Each student is individually tracked with our performance pass off system called Band Fu!
How much time does band take?
o Band is an elective class that meets every day as a regular class period.
At Gray, your child will have LA, Math, Science, Geography, Computers, PE, and BAND.
Students and parents must choose to elect band. If they do not, they will be placed in an exploratory class
like family and consumer sciences or art.
Outside of school, beginners will have TWO PERFORMANCES their first year.
This includes a winter concert in December and a spring concert in May.
YOU CAN DO SPORTS, DANCE, CHEER, SCOUTS, UNDERWATER BASKET WEAVING, etc.!
Most students in band are also in other clubs or activities outside of school.
What is the procedure for picking/renting/purchasing an instrument?
o If you sign up for band, DON'T BUY OR RENT AN INSTRUMENT!
In the first two weeks of school students are introduced to the EIGHT instruments offered in beginning band.
You will choose from flute, clarinet/sax, trumpet, horn, trombone, baritone, tuba, or percussion.
In the second week we will have an "Instrument Test Drive" and rental meeting. At this meeting, we will decide what
instrument you will play and whether or not you will use a school instrument or rent/purchase from a vendor.
If youre curious and would like to try out an instrument before registering, ask your schools music teacher if you can
test drive the instruments now!
Is band fun?
o Students in band also enjoy social events exclusive to band members including:
Band Pizza Social at the beginning of the year.
MS Band Night with the SLHS Band at an Eagles Home Football Game.
Parades in Downtown Clermont/Groveland.
The FAMOUS BAND LOCK-IN.
The end of the year Band Picnic.
Annual trip to Universal Studios or Disney World Theme Parks.
Is the band any good?
o The band program is consistently rated Superior by Florida Bandmasters Association adjudicators.
o Our director, Mr. Yannick Innis, very talented and skilled music educator in State of Florida.
Are there any other reasons to register for band?
o Scholarship and educational enrichment.
College admissions officers continue to cite participation in music as an important factor in making admissions
decisions. They claim that music participation demonstrates time management, creativity, expression, and open-
mindedness.
Carl Hartman, Arts May Improve Students Grades, The Associated Press, October, 1999.
In a 2000 survey, 73 percent of respondents agree that teens who play an instrument are less likely to have discipline
problems.

How do I sign up?

o Visit www.graybandweebly.com and click the Sign Up for Band link.
o To keep the classes to a manageable size, the link is taken down once we reach 140 (70 each) students.