ABOUT ETHS BANDS
Program Overview
The Evanston Township High School Band Program consists of three curricular Concert Bands, the co-curricular Wildkit Marching Band, and an extensive extra-curricular Jazz Program made up of three Jazz Big Bands and six Jazz Combos. Additionally, our band students hold positions in the Symphony Orchestra, the Pit Orchestra for our annual spring musical, YAMOrchestra (the musical accompaniment to our student written/directed theatre production called YAMO), Basketball Pep Band, and various small chamber ensembles.
The ETHS Music Program offers many additional performance opportunities for our instrumentalists such as the annual Honors Recital, auditions for Senior Soloists, and our Solo and Ensemble Festival. Our students also represent ETHS in the District 7 Illinois Music Educators Association Honor Band, Honor Orchestra, and Honor Jazz Bands, many of whom go on to represent us at the annual All-State Conference. Additionally, our students represent ETHS in the Northshore High School Honor Band and the Northshore Concert Band Lifetime of Music program.
Outside of ETHS, our students hold seats in the Merit Academy, Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra (CYSO), Midwest Young Artists (MYA), and many other fine performing ensembles.
Curricular Opportunities
Extra-Curricular and Co-Curricular Opportunities
Honors Credit
ETHS Music Honors Credit Program
The ETHS Honors Credit Program awards points for enhanced experiences through participation and excellence in ETHS sponsored events, ensembles, and opportunities. Our Music Program honors credit philosophy mirrors that of other classes in our school and thusly reserves credit solely for ETHS sponsored events. For a detailed layout of our Honors Credit matrix, click or download our Honors Credit Planning Packet linked below.
Honors Credit Application Procedure
The Honors Credit Program Outline & Planning Packet will be distributed to all band, choir, and orchestra students at the beginning of the school year. During this time, the ETHS Faculty will review the requirements, due dates, and procedure for the program and will provide an overview of all ETHS Fine Arts co-curricular and extra-curricular activities that qualify for the Honors Credit Program. Students and families are encouraged to study the Performance Planning Form included in this packet and brainstorm a realistic plan for achieving Honors Credit in Band for both the Fall and Spring semesters, taking into consideration the minimum point requirements as outlined in the next section of this document. Likewise, students are encouraged to consider the list of suggested Scholarly Projects and plan for their independent study in these areas. Throughout the year, your directors will provide opportunities for Service Projects surrounding major events, or solicit help for specific tasks when needed. If you have a desire to volunteer your time or are in need of Service Project points, simply ask your director if there is any way you can help.
It is the student’s responsibility to apply for Honors Credit each semester by completing the series of online forms located below. The ETHS Music Faculty will review each application during the week following the due date and will communicate Honors Credit status to each applicant as well as to the scheduling department for transcript purposes. At that time, all student schedules will be adjusted to reflect Honors or Standard status.
Honors Credit Application Deadlines
Semester 1: December 1st
Semester 2: April 15th
MENTORSHIP
ETHS Band Mentorship Program
In addition to our performing opportunities, the ETHS Band cultivates a strong music mentorship program in order to foster cross-grade level relationships and musical growth. This program runs from October through May and is open to any ETHS Band student as a mentor or mentee. The mentorship program kicks off with a morning mentorship breakfast meeting to pair-up mentees with mentors, compare student schedules, and set weekly or bi-weekly meeting times for the duration of the program. Students are required to log their meetings on the mentorship bulletin board each time they meet. In order to receive honors credit for being a mentor or mentee, students must meet the minimum meeting requirement as outlined on the mentorship program bulletin board. This is a wonderful opportunity for all ETHS band students and we highly encourage everyone to participate!
Parent Involvement
Getting Involved
Throughout your student's time in the ETHS Bands, we may call on you to volunteer to assist in some capacity. Our large and intricate music program has many volunteering needs from chaperoning, to event planning, to moving and packing equipment, and much more! We are so very thankful for all of your help and could not operate at a high level without you. Be on the lookout for our volunteer requests, often solicited through Googledocs, throughout the year.
Join The ETHS Boosters
ETHS has a highly effective parent group called the Boosters which is dedicated to raising funds to support our programs at ETHS. The Boosters operate in several ways to facilitate this mission:
Membership Drive
Each fall, you will be asked to join the ETHS Booster organization during their annual membership drive. By simply joining the Boosters, you can allocate some of your membership fee to the programs that your student is involved in - and Band is one of these programs. In exchange for your membership, you will gain free access to many ETHS athletic events, concerts, and special programs.
Fund Raising
The Boosters facilitate two large-scale fund raisers each year in the city of Evanston. These are typically large events that require a great deal of help from the Booster members in the planning and facilitation process, but they garner a significant sum of money for the programs they support. In addition to these large fund raising efforts, the Boosters are in charge of concessions at athletic events as well as the sale of spirit wear throughout the year.
Allocations
Twice each year, the Boosters provide opportunities for ETHS program sponsors to request funding through an allocation process involving the Booster committee, the department chairs, and the ETHS business office. This process allows program sponsors to solicit quotes for large ticket items that would ordinarily not be affordable using annual budgets. The ETHS music program benefits greatly from this process each spring and fall.
Recent Booster purchases for the ETHS music program have included the grand piano, music stands, and music chairs that reside on our auditorium stage, a digital harpsichord for the orchestra, instrument mutes for the jazz program, and a new library system for the choir department.