Hello to all the fans of the Choirs of Cretin-Derham Hall. Today's post is to let you know that the choir has a brand new website effective today!
As a part of a move involving the CDH community in general we've moved to a Google Sites website. This will allow for a lot of new features not available on the previous blog site. The newsletter blog feature will still continue as the "News" page in order to keep everyone up to date with what's happening in the "choral universe" of CDH. Some of the new items you can look for are the voice lesson schedule, grading criteria, ensemble-specific pages, a parent page, fundraising, a links page, and more...
If you want to type in the address rather that typing in the link it is: https://sites.google.com/a/c-dh.org/cdh-choir
Just so you know, this will be the last posting on the CDH Choir Notes blog. It's been a great way to keep in touch and hopefully has been useful to you. I look forward to you exploring and using the new website!
Chris Jacobson
Friday, July 25, 2008
Monday, June 23, 2008
Volunteer Oportunities
There is a big need for parent/family (guardians, grandparents, aunts, uncles..) volunteers with the choirs. All of these projects will be done by Mr. Jacobson and students if absolutely necessary but having a dedicated volunteer to fill the position who could give more attention and energy to the project would certainly be a better situation. Any of the projects can be divided up between a couple of volunteers if that would work better for the individuals in question. And there will be some guidance and oversight from Mr. Jacobson for each of areas as well.
If you would like to volunteer for any of the projects right away or have questions please feel free to contact Mr. Jacobson by email this summer, or you may call the choir office at 651-696-3315.
So here are the projects as of summer 2008 (there could be more, or if you have an idea of a need please suggest it...) as well as a timeline of when the project would occur, and a brief description of what the project would entail:
Happenings Books Sale
The choir members will be selling the familiar discount books again this year. And because this is a choir trip year the choir will also be selling the books at the CDH Back to School Night in September. The volunteer leader would be asked to coordinate the sale of the books on back to school night. Additional help could involve encouraging students and families to take part in the project and perhaps help with double checking money collection. He or she could also coordinate student sales if available during the school day, however that would be a job Mr. Jacobson could easily do. Timeline: late August through September; with attendance before, during, and after Back to School Night.
Poinsettia Sale
After a one year hiatus the Gertens Poinsettia Sale returns to the CDH Choir. The plan is to have delivery coordinated with the Christmas Dinner and Silent Auction on December 6/7, however the advance paperwork from Gertens again lists an order date at the end of October. The volunteer would help with deciding what products to include in the sale, compiling a master order from student order forms, totaling the amout sold by individual students, possibly help with money collection, and then coordinating delivery. Timeline: early October, orders at the end of the month, and then delivery December 6 AM and following the Dinner on the 7th.
Choir Robes
This project would involve sorting robes by size (already fairly completed, just some re-sorting from this past spring), assigning robes to students, and then labeling the robes for students to be able to find them. Some of the robes could also use some mnor repair - sewing some zippers in etc. Timeline: any time prior to the first use of the robes on December 17, preferably early December.
Christmas Dinner Invitations & Tickets
This person, or people, would be responsible for the design, printing, and distribution of invitations for the Christmas Dinner. Students will be asked to help with sending invitations/selling tickets and money raised from ticket sales by individual students will go into their trip accounts, so the volunteer will be asked to keep track of how many tickets students sell and maybe help in encouraging students to sell. The volunteer would also keep track of the total number of tickets sold. Additionally the volunteer could be asked to help with will-call ticket distribution at the dinner itself. Timeline: early November through the Dinner on December 7.
Christmas Dinner Decorations
This is a fairly straight forward one, the person in this project would coordinate decorating the CDH Auxiliary Gym for the Christmas Dinner. There are some materials already in the position of the choir for decoration and others could possibly be borrowed from the band or will be rented from the caterer. In addition there is a small budget for purchasing decorative items, however the less spent on decorations the higher the fundraising amount so we do want to keep that in check. The volunteer would be asked to help (or take over...) the design of the decorations and coordinate the set-up of those decorative elements. The choir students will be required to assist with set-up, including decoration. Timeline: planning, preferably prior to Thanksgiving; set-up in the morning of December 7; and possibly some removal to storage following the dinner.
Christmas Dinner Catering Assistance
In terms of time spent on the project this is one of the most simple for the year. The volunteer would be asked to briefly check-in with the caterer (probably Tinucci's) briefly the week prior to the dinner, make sure tables are set by students, help distribute pre-dinner food and drink, and supervise and direct student servers. Timeline: one phone call or meeting the week of December 1-5, and then before and during the Dinner on the 7th.
Christmas Dinner Silent Auction
This is a big project, and might be a good one to divide between a couple of volunteers, though one parent (Mary Fox) did a great job with it last year. With it being a trip year this is potentially a big fundraiser for the choir so I'd love to see this project expanded a bit. The volunteer(s) would be asked to help provide ideas for potential auction items, assist in procuring those items, perhaps encourage students and familys in procuring items, set up the auction, price and produce bid sheets for the items, and then run and check-out the auction at the Christmas Dinner itself. Timeline: planning and item procurement in early November, set up on December 6, and before, during, and after the Christmas Dinner on the 7th.
Candy Sale (Or Other Early 2009 Fundraiser)
This project is still in the early planning stages. My thought at this point is to sell the same fair-trade chocolate that the CDH Band sells in early 2009, perhaps in anticipation of Valentine's Day. There are, however, other options such as other gift or even fruit sales. The volunteer for this project would be asked to help make a decision as to what product to sell, help encourage students and families in the project, coordinate a sales table at parent/teacher conferences, help total student orders, and maybe help with money collection. Timeline: planning meeting in 2008, conferences on January 22, done by January 26.
SEC Festival Supervision
This is another fairly simple, straight foward volunteer opportunity. The volunteer would be asked to stay in the homeroom for the choir at the Suburban East Conference Music Festival, make sure student property is secure, supervise any students in the room, and send students out to watch performances. Supervision could probably be coordinated with band volunteers to allow the choir (and band) volunteer to watch the performance of his or her children. Timeline: approximately 8:00 am to 3:00 pm on Monday, February 2 at Stillwater High School.
Myrtle Beach Trip Chaperones
This is a big one, and there will be a need for several individuals! It's also the only volunteer position that would require the volunteer to pay for the experience - $516 for double occupancy, $465 for quad occupancy, and $617 for single occupancy. The volunteers will have a variety of responsibilities supervising students during the choir trip which will be laid out in a separate document, suffice it to say that this is a big responsibility that is potentially very rewarding as well. Hopefully there will be more interest than positions for this opportunity and in that case a procedure for choosing chaperones will be outlined. Timeline: evening chaperone meeting in February, evening parent trip meeting also in February, then nearly 24 hour per-day availabilty (not scheduled, but the potential is there...) from late afternoon Friday March 5 through late evening Wednesday March 11.
Large-Group Contest Hosts
Next year CDH will host one of the Minnesota High School League Section 4AA Large-Group Choir contests. Volunteers would assist in several ways: making sure the judges have water, pencils, etc; collecting completed critique sheets, tabulating results, and escorting choirs to and from warm-up and performance sites on schedule. Timeline: approximately 8:00 am to 3:00 pm on Thursday, March 19.
Solo/Ensemble Contest Supervision
This is another fairly simple project. The volunteer would be asked to remain in the CDH homeroom area to maintain security of student belongings, supervise students, and perhaps assist with moving students to their performance sites on schedule. Timeline: afternoon and evening of Tuesday, April 14 at Woodbury High School.
Night of Song Reception
Though it didn't happen this previous year I think it would be a nice addition to the Night of Song to have an awards reception at which students would be recognized for their solo and ensemble performance achievments for the year. The volunteer would be asked to coordinate a fairly simple (and probably pot-luck style) reception to follow the Night of Song performance and to set up the reception. Timeline: planning the last week of April and set-up for the event on Tuesday, May 5.
If you would like to volunteer for any of the projects right away or have questions please feel free to contact Mr. Jacobson by email this summer, or you may call the choir office at 651-696-3315.
So here are the projects as of summer 2008 (there could be more, or if you have an idea of a need please suggest it...) as well as a timeline of when the project would occur, and a brief description of what the project would entail:
Happenings Books Sale
The choir members will be selling the familiar discount books again this year. And because this is a choir trip year the choir will also be selling the books at the CDH Back to School Night in September. The volunteer leader would be asked to coordinate the sale of the books on back to school night. Additional help could involve encouraging students and families to take part in the project and perhaps help with double checking money collection. He or she could also coordinate student sales if available during the school day, however that would be a job Mr. Jacobson could easily do. Timeline: late August through September; with attendance before, during, and after Back to School Night.
Poinsettia Sale
After a one year hiatus the Gertens Poinsettia Sale returns to the CDH Choir. The plan is to have delivery coordinated with the Christmas Dinner and Silent Auction on December 6/7, however the advance paperwork from Gertens again lists an order date at the end of October. The volunteer would help with deciding what products to include in the sale, compiling a master order from student order forms, totaling the amout sold by individual students, possibly help with money collection, and then coordinating delivery. Timeline: early October, orders at the end of the month, and then delivery December 6 AM and following the Dinner on the 7th.
Choir Robes
This project would involve sorting robes by size (already fairly completed, just some re-sorting from this past spring), assigning robes to students, and then labeling the robes for students to be able to find them. Some of the robes could also use some mnor repair - sewing some zippers in etc. Timeline: any time prior to the first use of the robes on December 17, preferably early December.
Christmas Dinner Invitations & Tickets
This person, or people, would be responsible for the design, printing, and distribution of invitations for the Christmas Dinner. Students will be asked to help with sending invitations/selling tickets and money raised from ticket sales by individual students will go into their trip accounts, so the volunteer will be asked to keep track of how many tickets students sell and maybe help in encouraging students to sell. The volunteer would also keep track of the total number of tickets sold. Additionally the volunteer could be asked to help with will-call ticket distribution at the dinner itself. Timeline: early November through the Dinner on December 7.
Christmas Dinner Decorations
This is a fairly straight forward one, the person in this project would coordinate decorating the CDH Auxiliary Gym for the Christmas Dinner. There are some materials already in the position of the choir for decoration and others could possibly be borrowed from the band or will be rented from the caterer. In addition there is a small budget for purchasing decorative items, however the less spent on decorations the higher the fundraising amount so we do want to keep that in check. The volunteer would be asked to help (or take over...) the design of the decorations and coordinate the set-up of those decorative elements. The choir students will be required to assist with set-up, including decoration. Timeline: planning, preferably prior to Thanksgiving; set-up in the morning of December 7; and possibly some removal to storage following the dinner.
Christmas Dinner Catering Assistance
In terms of time spent on the project this is one of the most simple for the year. The volunteer would be asked to briefly check-in with the caterer (probably Tinucci's) briefly the week prior to the dinner, make sure tables are set by students, help distribute pre-dinner food and drink, and supervise and direct student servers. Timeline: one phone call or meeting the week of December 1-5, and then before and during the Dinner on the 7th.
Christmas Dinner Silent Auction
This is a big project, and might be a good one to divide between a couple of volunteers, though one parent (Mary Fox) did a great job with it last year. With it being a trip year this is potentially a big fundraiser for the choir so I'd love to see this project expanded a bit. The volunteer(s) would be asked to help provide ideas for potential auction items, assist in procuring those items, perhaps encourage students and familys in procuring items, set up the auction, price and produce bid sheets for the items, and then run and check-out the auction at the Christmas Dinner itself. Timeline: planning and item procurement in early November, set up on December 6, and before, during, and after the Christmas Dinner on the 7th.
Candy Sale (Or Other Early 2009 Fundraiser)
This project is still in the early planning stages. My thought at this point is to sell the same fair-trade chocolate that the CDH Band sells in early 2009, perhaps in anticipation of Valentine's Day. There are, however, other options such as other gift or even fruit sales. The volunteer for this project would be asked to help make a decision as to what product to sell, help encourage students and families in the project, coordinate a sales table at parent/teacher conferences, help total student orders, and maybe help with money collection. Timeline: planning meeting in 2008, conferences on January 22, done by January 26.
SEC Festival Supervision
This is another fairly simple, straight foward volunteer opportunity. The volunteer would be asked to stay in the homeroom for the choir at the Suburban East Conference Music Festival, make sure student property is secure, supervise any students in the room, and send students out to watch performances. Supervision could probably be coordinated with band volunteers to allow the choir (and band) volunteer to watch the performance of his or her children. Timeline: approximately 8:00 am to 3:00 pm on Monday, February 2 at Stillwater High School.
Myrtle Beach Trip Chaperones
This is a big one, and there will be a need for several individuals! It's also the only volunteer position that would require the volunteer to pay for the experience - $516 for double occupancy, $465 for quad occupancy, and $617 for single occupancy. The volunteers will have a variety of responsibilities supervising students during the choir trip which will be laid out in a separate document, suffice it to say that this is a big responsibility that is potentially very rewarding as well. Hopefully there will be more interest than positions for this opportunity and in that case a procedure for choosing chaperones will be outlined. Timeline: evening chaperone meeting in February, evening parent trip meeting also in February, then nearly 24 hour per-day availabilty (not scheduled, but the potential is there...) from late afternoon Friday March 5 through late evening Wednesday March 11.
Large-Group Contest Hosts
Next year CDH will host one of the Minnesota High School League Section 4AA Large-Group Choir contests. Volunteers would assist in several ways: making sure the judges have water, pencils, etc; collecting completed critique sheets, tabulating results, and escorting choirs to and from warm-up and performance sites on schedule. Timeline: approximately 8:00 am to 3:00 pm on Thursday, March 19.
Solo/Ensemble Contest Supervision
This is another fairly simple project. The volunteer would be asked to remain in the CDH homeroom area to maintain security of student belongings, supervise students, and perhaps assist with moving students to their performance sites on schedule. Timeline: afternoon and evening of Tuesday, April 14 at Woodbury High School.
Night of Song Reception
Though it didn't happen this previous year I think it would be a nice addition to the Night of Song to have an awards reception at which students would be recognized for their solo and ensemble performance achievments for the year. The volunteer would be asked to coordinate a fairly simple (and probably pot-luck style) reception to follow the Night of Song performance and to set up the reception. Timeline: planning the last week of April and set-up for the event on Tuesday, May 5.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
2008-2009 Choir Year - Updated
Hello everyone. We've had some dates and arrangements fall into place and next year is looking to be an exciting one for the choirs here at CDH! Here are some previews of what to expect:
September
October
December
January, 2009
February
March
April
May
September
- Trip fundraising starts with selling Happenings Books (kick-off date for the sale is August 28)
- Homecoming Mass is the 12th, we might sing if we can get something ready in two weeks...
October
- The second fundraiser for the year will be the poinsettia sale that will begin in mid October.
- On Saturday the 25th a select group of students will travel to St. John's to participate in the ACDA of MN Men's/Women's Choir Festival.
December
- The major fundraiser, and first performance of the year - the Christmas Dinner - will take place on Sunday the 7th. Performances by the choirs, soloists, and small groups as well as a great meal and a silent auction - what a great way to start the Christmas Season!
- On Wednesday the 17th the choirs will join with the CDH bands to present their annual Christmas Concert.
January, 2009
- A select group of students will participate in rehearsals as members of the SEC All-Conference Choir on the 11th and on February 1st.
February
- The Choral Arts Ensemble will participate in the SEC Music Festival on Monday the 2nd. Members of the All-Conference Choir will perform in a concert that evening.
March
- Choir trip to Myrtle Beach, SC!!! We'll leave in the afternoon of Friday the 6th after trimester 2 finals are over and return in the evening of Wednesday the 11th.
- A Mid-Winter/Welcome Home Concert will take place on Monday 16th.
- At some point in mid-March auditions will be held for the Minnesota All-State Choirs.
- MSHSL Section 4AA Large-Group Choir Contest will be on Thursday the 19th - possibly at CDH.
April
- MSHSL Section 4AA Solo/Ensemble Contest will be on the 14th.
- While not technically a choir event the CDH Theatre Spring Musical will be performed the weekends of the 24th-26th and May 1st-3rd.
May
- Fine Arts Week at CDH will take place the week following the spring musical.
- The Night of Song will be the Tuesday the 5th.
- And to cap off our formal concerts for the year the Spring Concert will take place on Thursday the 14th.
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