Weekly Update Oct 15 – 19

Good evening everyone. Please see the weekly information below. As always, if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

  1. Tuesday-Full Ensemble rehearsal from 6pm-9pm @MHS.
  2. Wednesday-Full Ensemble rehearsal from 6pm-9pm @MHS. At the conclusion of rehearsal, the truck will need loaded.  
  3. Friday-Football game at Hampton. Students should arrive at the HS Auditorium parking lot by 5:15 for a 5:30 departure. Students should be in their uniform bottoms and wear their blue/gold “Mars Band” shirts prior to arriving at the school. 
  4. Saturday-Show Day!!! Our last regular season show day will occur this Saturday at Baldwin HS. Rehearsal will be from 10am-1pm at MHS. Students should arrive by 9:30am for truck unload. Weather pending, we will use the props for rehearsal. After rehearsal, lunch will be provided(pulled pork, chicken tenders, mac & cheese, cole slaw, rolls, salad, and cake update: Pasta with Mariana sauce, Meatballs, rolls, salad, fruit and cookies.). We will depart from Mars HS to Baldwin at 2:45. Students will need their compression shirts for their performance and their show shirts for after. Students should have an opportunity to utilize the concessions stands at Baldwin after their performance. Anticipated arrival time back to Mars is 10:30pm. The truck will need unloaded at this time.
  5. **Family and Friends-**I just wanted to keep everyone in the loop in regards to our annual Family and Friends performance. Our anticipated plan was to host family and friends on Tuesday October 22nd at the MAC. However, I received communication from the district on Friday that there is a high chance that the MAC will be utilized most of the week by playoff soccer games/other games. We were originally given the go ahead to host it, but the district received information from WPIAL in regards to the playoff schedule. With that being said, there is a chance that we are unable to host a Family and Friends this year. If that is the case, we will look at another opportunity for family to come watch the week of champs(even if it’s on the side walk of rehearsal). As soon as I hear more information, I will be sure to relay it.
  6. Playoffs- As we are approaching the end of the regular season for football, please begin to prepare for playoff football. With our loss against McKeesport this past weekend, it’s anticipated that all of our playoff games will most likely be on the road(pending some crazy changes over the next two weeks). We anticipate the following schedules: November 1, November 8, and WPIAL Championships on November 16th(we understand that is the banquet day. If the team advances to that point, we will have a further discussion). If the team advances beyond this, we will continue into further weekends. We need all students in attendance of these games to put on quality performances!
  7. **Senior Bio-**Seniors should be receiving a senior night bio form through the Band App. Students need to have this filled out and turned in NO LATER that Saturday October 19th.
  8. Indoor Percussion/WGI-For those interested in participating in Mars Indoor Percussion 2025, I wanted to provide another follow up email regarding the season. First, we will be having our parent meeting on Wednesday October 30th at 6pm in the HS LGI. Students are welcome to attend if they would want, but its mostly an informational meeting for parents. There we will be addressing things such as the calendar, and costs. As a staff, we understand that attending World Championships does add cost for students to participate, however, we are continuing to work on ways to help offset those costs as much as possible. Our goal is to provide our students with positive, educational, life-changing experiences, and we believe these events are part of those experiences.

Mr. Soose