December Update

Hello Everyone,
 I realize it has been quite a while since our last update, so I will squeeze one in before Christmas. The trip planning continues to move right along. Yesterday we received our semi final itinerary from the company. All 4 of our program's performances have been approved. The band will be performing at the Intrepid Sea, Air, Space Museum as well as the Madison Ave Sculpture Garden Atrium. The performance at the Sea Air Space Museum will be out on the deck of the Intrepid, the ship that houses the museum. The Madison Ave Sculpture Garden Atrium is an indoor venue that looks to be a really cool place to play. From the pictures it is a large glassed in area with trees and numerous sculptures. The choir will be performing at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine and at the United Nations. The Cathedral of St. John the Divine boasts an incredible acoustic venue unlike anything our students have sung in before. At the United Nations our students will get to sing before an international audience before touring the building. We are hoping to stream these performances live, but will post them here (and probably in other places too) as soon as possible. We also have tickets to see the Philadelphia Orchestra at Carnegie Hall as well as the musical Aladdin. I am pretty sure that as of now, our tickets to dinner and a jazz set at the Jazz Club Swing 46 have also been confirmed. As you can see we have a lot of music events happening during our 5 day excursion to NYC. We are excited to bring these exciting opportunities to our students.

On the business end of this trip, We have 2 more payments left before we go. I will include the current amounts below. I am hoping to have our final confirmed total soon so the Feb. payment is still subject to change. We are also planning a final informational meeting hopefully on Feb. 6, 2018 so be on the lookout for information via mail and email.

As always continue to follow our trip here on the blog (I am going to try and post more often now that we are in the final stretch) as well as on twitter (@agwrsmusicdept). We have also started a K-12 department website so you can find us there too. https://sites.google.com/agwsr.org/agwsrmusic/home

Thanks for stopping in and seeing what we have going on, till next time.....

Students payments                 Chaperone Payments                          Traveling Parents

Jan. $250                                 Jan. None                                            $300

Feb. $275                                Feb. $150                                            $352

November Update

130 Days and Counting....

Time for our monthly update on everything to do with the trip!


* Butterbraids will be in Thursday Nov. 2 at 2:30 in the Band Room. Please make arrangements to pick up your braids and get them delivered. We did an incredible job and sold over 900 braids this year. Thank you to everyone who bought and supported the music program.

* The November payment is due by the end of the week. If you need to know how much you owe for the trip you can contact Mr. Idler or Miss Medick. You can also check out the New York Payment form on the Google Classroom for the trip. There is no payment due in December. We are getting there everybody!

* We received an updated version of our itinerary. The big news is that we now have our tickets to ALADDIN! More of our events have been confirmed as well.

Oct. Update

October Update:

Fundraising:

• Butterbraids: Butterbraids are HERE! We will start selling butterbraids Today (Sept. 25). Our company has given us a new flavor this year, a Four Cheese and Herb Butter braid with Marinara dipping sauce, so that will be exciting. Orders are due back to school Oct. 10. We will deliver to ACKLEY only on Nov. 2, so they will be in before Thanksgiving. Make checks out to AGWSR. 
• Sunglasses: We are still working on selling sunglasses. If you know of anyone who wants a pair or two let me know and I will get you set up. We will probably try and sell at a couple of winter events. They would make great stocking stuffers! 
• Concessions:  We have 1 more event this fall, Volleyball Oct. 10. We will also do concessions at the home Wrestling events. To sign up for the volleyball game check out the Fall Fundraising doc shared with the students. 
• All of this fundraising (Sunglasses, Concessions, and Butterbraids) will be applied to Nov. payment (Due Nov. 1)

Payment:

• Our next payment is due Oct. 2 since Oct. 1 is on a Sunday. The payment is $200. Slips were given to the students earlier this week, but you can check out the doc on Google Classroom or contact me if you want to know what you owe. 

Travel Insurance:

• Watch this week for information about trip insurance. Good News Tour and Travel (our travel company) has an insurance company they work with. It is up to each family to decide if you want travel insurance. 

Getting to know Mr Idler and Miss Medick: 
Since Mr. Idler is new this year I thought that I would do a little "getting to know you" segment about the newest member of the AGWSR music staff. Just to be fair, and because I am new to some of you too, I will fill it out as well!

Name: Jeremy Idler
College: Wartburg College
Hometown: Fort Collins CO, Rocky Mountain HS
Family: My family is all in Colorado and I am married to an Iowan from Ankeny and all of here
       family is here.
Instrument: Trumpet
Favorite Food: Chicken Parmesan
Favorite Song: Uptown Funk
What am I looking forward to seeing/doing in New York most: Carnegie Hall
Farthest place from home I've traveled: China/ Japan
One thing I can't travel without: My Wallet/ ID

Name: Kim Medick
College: Northwest Missouri State University
Hometown: Elkhart IA- North Polk HS
Family: My parents are still down in Elkhart, My sister and her husband live in Chicago, and My
       brother lives in Minneapolis.
Instrument: Voice but I played trumpet in HS
Favorite Food: Cake
Favorite Song: Santa Fe from Newsies the Musical
What am I looking forward to seeing/doing in New York most: Seeing Aladdin and the Philadelphia         Orchestra.
Farthest place form home I've traveled: Loch Ness in Scotland
One thing I can't travel without: My Kindle. 

Back to School Update

Hello everyone and welcome back to school.

We are really excited to get this school year going and continue to prepare for our trip to NYC. I wanted to take a minute to update you about what has been going on this summer:

Payment:

• Our next payment of $100 is due Sept. 1. Most students will be covered by fundraising for this payment. We handed out slips with what is owed for this payment the first day of school. There is also a google classroom for the trip where we can post information about the trip. On that site we have a sheet that keeps track of payments that you can reference. It uses their student ID number, or if you are a parent traveling with us, it uses the last 4 digits of your cell phone number. You can always contact Miss Medick for an amount as well. 
• The third payment of $200 is due Oct. 1. 

NYC Confirmations:

• Three of our four performances have been confirmed. The band is set to play at the Air and Space Museum on the Intrepid, and in the Madison Avenue Sculpture Garden. The choir is set to sing in Cathedral of Saint John the Divine. We are still waiting to hear back from the United Nations, but that is pretty normal. 
• Many of our tourist destinations have also been confirmed, as well as our hotel. 
• We have tickets to see the Philadelphia Orchestra at Carnegie Hall Tuesday night. 

Fund Raising:

• We still have lots of Sunglasses for sale. We will be selling at the first couple football games and volleyball games for sure. We will be discussing other selling options. There is a google doc shared with students where they can sign up to help sell. 
• We are also working 2 more fall concession stands and 3 concession stands this winter. Sign up for those is also on the google doc.
• Butterbraids are set up with the company. This year they added a Garlic Bread with Marinara Sauce option. We will be selling at the end of September. 

Fundraising and Trip Update

Hello!
   The school year is wrapping up but we still have a number of things going on for the trip. Here is an update:

• The official count is in. We will be a party 78 when we travel to NYC next year. That includes: 58 students, 12 traveling adults, 6 chaperones, and 2 directors. Yay! 
• We are currently running our second fundraiser for the year. We are selling Cougar Sunglasses. Each pair cost $8 with students receiving the profit. Each student should have received an order form earlier this week and they are due Monday. They come in three colors: Purple, Blue, and White and say Cougars on the side. We will also be selling them at the first four home softball/baseball games. A sign up to work the booth is on the students' Google Drive. 
• We are also working concessions May 23, June 1, and June 2. We have all our workers, and they should be out at the softball/baseball concession stand half an hour before the game. I will add that list to the Sunglass Sign up. 

We are continuing to solidify our itinerary with the company and will stay in touch with them over the summer. 

I think that is our update for right now.... as always if you have questions please contact me (Miss Medick) I will be checking my email pretty consistently over the summer.

6 Days and a few more tidbits

Hello!
The deadline is coming! There are 6 more days left to send in your deposit for New York. We only have about 6 students that have their deposit in and I know there are lots of other students who are planning on going so make sure that you get everything turned in.

Now for some more NY tidbits:

Broadway:

• There are 40 theaters that comprise "Broadway" 
• Broadway is also called the Great White Way
• Broadway theaters do not have a row I so as not to be confused with a 1. 
• Phantom of the Opera is currently the longest running show on Broadway

Statue of Liberty: 

• The statue of Liberty is 305ft 6 inches tall from base to torch
• Her face is 8 feet tall
• There are 154 steps from base to head in the Statue of Liberty
• She was dedicated in 1886
• She has 7 rays on her crown, one for each continent
• The boat the Statue came over on almost sank in rough seas
• Her official name is Liberty Enlightening the World
• She is modeled after the artist's mother, Charlotte 

Some information from: http://www.nyctrip.com/pages/index.aspx?pageID=1143 

Hello Everyone!
Did you know that as of today our deposit is due in 8 school days? How exciting is that! I thought for the next two weeks I would pass along some fun New York tidbits!

The Empire State Building

• Building on the Empire State Building began in March 1930 and rose 41/2 stories a week. 
• In May of 1931 the lights are turned on in the Empire State Building
• In 1945 a B-25 Bomber crashed into the side of the building. It opened for business the next Monday despite the 20 foot gash
• in 1962 a crew of 30 men begin the first ever cleaning of the outside of the building. It takes close to 6 months
• 1980 The Empire State Building gains it's own Zip Code
• The observation deck is on the 86th floor from there you can see Central Park, The Statue of Liberty, and Time Square.

Information from the Empire State Building website http://www.esbnyc.com/ 

It's Official.....

Start spreading the news, 

We're leaving today

We want to be a part of it...

NEW YORK NEW YORK

These vagabond shoes

are longing to stray

Right through the very heart of it

NEW YORK NEW YORK

I thought since this was a music trip it would be appropriate to announce our 2018 Music trip destination with song lyrics....

We are going to New York!!

Keep checking back here for information about the trip, including deadlines, information on what we are going to be doing, fundraising opportunities, and anything else trip related!

Mr. Winkey and I are really excited about this opportunity for our students. Thank you to the school board who allow us to take students out of school for a week for this really great experience.

Till next time....
Miss Medick