09/10/2022 Update: Manchester Homecoming!

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The Parkway South Marching Band was a hit during the Manchester Homecoming Parade. Marching from The Journey to Parkway Southwest Middle school, South High band members wowed the crowd with the Parkway South fight song as well as other marching band classics. Community spectators were treated to candy canes courtesy of the Parkway South Band Boosters, which advertised the upcoming Parkway South High Holiday Craft Fair Nov. 19 & 20, which benefits the Parkway South Bands!

9/9/2022 Update! Parkway South Varsity Football

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After rain the previous week canceled the appearance of the Parkway South Band, the Spirit of 76 marching band, along with Symphonic Band 1 & 2 students played the National Anthem, provided the crowd with energy and entertainment in the stands, and killed it with the first movement of their 2022 show: Creepy at halftime! What a beautiful night for football…and they brought home a winner! Go South!

11/01/2021 Update

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What a weekend! After months of hard work, random performances, festivals with ups and downs, football, rain and some sunshine, we have come to the end of the season. On a mostly gorgeous day at Belleville West High School, our mighty little band managed to outperform everyone in their division to earn a 1st place trophy in the Blue Division. Much to our surprise, they also were awarded Outstanding Percussion, Outstanding Color Guard, Outstanding General Effect and Outstanding Music. I'm not even sure I knew those awards were going to be given out.

Mr. Wall and I are extremely proud of what this group has been able to accomplish this season and are a little sad to see these uniforms and props go away.

Thank you to all the parents who have spent so much of their time with the students to help them get from point A to point B, when they needed to go, wearing what they needed to wear, with whatever they needed--all with a smile on their face. We cannot do this type of marching band without you!

As we hang up one uniform to put on another, I plan to move communication to emails and our Facebook site for the Parkway South Bands. Until we begin the new marching season, the remainder of the information will be for ALL band students, not just the Spirit of '76. Stay tuned to the Facebook page and check email frequently as things may pop up throughout the year.

We are meeting with the students today to hash out the season and see what festivals worked for them and which didn't. Updates on anything will come as we get them.

Again, thank you for following us this fall and we hope you will now continue to do so throughout the concert season.

Kinworthy

10/25/2021 Band Update

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Welcome to the last week of marching band! Can you believe that it is almost over? It seems like we just got the show on the field! BOA was such a success! After the frustration of picking up doggy doo-doo and guard traipsing all over the outside of the dome looking for a warm-up area, things went really well. After a strong performance from the students, we found out that we got some love and recognition from some St. Louis area media sources: The St. Louis Post-Dispatch (students, this is a newspaper. It used to be delivered to your door every morning so you knew what was going on in the world) and KMOV TV (CBS). Both sources have a nice article about BOA and we are in the pictures!
Post-Dispatch
KMOVTV

We've got one more busy week so here is the schedule so far:
Monday, October 25: Rehearsal 2:30 - 3:30

Tuesday, October 26: Rehearsal 2:30 - 5:15

Wednesday, October 27: Rehearsal 5:30 - 8:00 Middle school night. Be prepared to be flexible and do anything. WEAR YOUR SHOW SHIRTS!

Thursday, October 28: NO REHEARSAL--Enjoy a day off! Its going to rain anyway!
Drumline at pep rally 7:00 am. We will be playing the softball team out of the gym and onto the buses. Cadences.

Friday, October 29: REHEARSAL 12:30 - 2:30--Bring some lunch to school and we'll get rehearsal out of the way early.

Saturday, October 30: Greater St. Louis Marching Band Festival at Belleville West High School. Arrive 8:30 am, Home by 7:15 (I hope). Details attached. Parent Information

Schedule for the Day

Monday, November 1: Spirit of '76 Wrap-up Meeting 2:30 - 3:30

This will conclude the daily part of marching season. There will be periodical events and information that will come out to you, but this is what we call the end of the season.

Thank you to all the parents who sacrificed so much time and effort to make my job easier as well as create a comfortable environment for the students.

To keep up with information, please be sure to continue to look at emails and keep up with concert season, you can join that Facebook page (Parkway South Bands). I will not post marching band information on the Parkway South Bands Site so continue to visit throughout the winter and spring

10/11/2021 Spirit of '76 Band Update

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We had a great 1st appearance at the Homecoming Football game Friday night. Let's keep up our momentum this week and add some fun stuff and get ready for the Rebel Invitational on Saturday!

Here is our current schedule:

Monday, Oct. 11: Rehearsal 2:30 - 3:30
Tuesday, Oct. 12: Rehearsal 2:30 - 5:15
Wednesday. Oct. 13: NO REHEARSAL DUE TO PARENT CONFERENCES
Thursday, Oct. 14: Rehearsal 2:30 - 5:15 (yes, I know this is a half day)

Monday, Oct. 18: NO SCHOOL and no rehearsal
Tuesday, Oct. 19: Rehearsal 2:30 - 5:15
Wednesday, Oct. 20: Rehearsal 5:30 - 8:30 (Alumni night)
Thursday, Oct. 21: Rehearsal 2:30 - 5:15
Load trucks immediately after rehearsal
Friday, Oct. 22: Bands of America Super Regional, arrive at 7:00 am--back at School is TBA

Home Football Game/Senior Night--Seniors and their parents will be recognized sometime at the game. We need parents' help. Please check out this Sign-up Genius: https://m.signupgenius.com/#!/showSignUp/10C0E4CA4A72BA6F94-home

Saturday, Oct. 23: Bands of America Super Regional Finals (OPTIONAL). More details after the schedule.

10/25: Rehearsal
10/26: Rehearsal
10/27: Rehearsal--Middle School Night
10/28: Rehearsal
10/29: Last Rehearsal

I want to be upfront about something: A marching festival was scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 16 because it would have been 3 weeks between performances and that is not good for the group. As the semester has gone on, we have found out about 4 students who will be missing the day due to family obligations. I don't mind the family obligations, this is something that the students don't need to miss. What is disappointing is that the family events were planned on top of a day where the student already had a prior obligation scheduled. Only one student spoke to me in August when the schedule was finalized. This is where my disappointment starts. This is compounded by the fact that the group is quite small. As of right now, 22% of the band will be missing on Saturday. Both Mr. Wall and I knew this could be a factor, but we thought we would know about issues more than a week away from the festival. Monday, during our short rehearsal, we will be polling the band to decide whether the trip to the Rebel Invitational will help or hurt the band. I hope you can understand that the actual obligations are NOT the actual problem, it is the timing at which we found out. I ask that in the future, you consider your student's schedule also when scheduling family events.

Ok, so what is the Bands of American thing?

Bands of America is a National Marching Band Competition that allows students to perform in some of the best venues possible in the country, one of which is the Dome at the America's Center in St. Louis. When scheduling this year, students asked if there was any way we could attend BOA and play in the Dome. We applied, we're in and ended up getting a Friday morning time slot. This does help us avoid students who will be taking the ACT on Saturday, the 23rd. Friday the 22nd is ALSO Senior Night at the last home football game. ( I'll be sending out Senior Forms next week.) The awards ceremony for BOA is Saturday afternoon. Our drum majors will need to be there. Saturday night, the festival will hold Finals. The top 14 highest scoring bands will play for the Super Regional Championship. As much as I like to think optimistically, we will not make finals at BOA. The competition brings in the best of the best, the richest of the richest from around the mid-west area. Our goal, realistically, is to not get 59th place.

All that being said, our students have the opportunity to attend finals for FREE!. I encourage the students to go to the finals competition so they can see what those who take the competition VERY seriously are putting on the field. If you student has enjoyed watching other bands, then they shouldn't mis BOA finals.

Finals are also held in the Dome at the America Center--Downtown. The competition starts at 7:00 pm. In order for our students to get in free, they will need to be in a group with a staff member. So I will be there for the students to get them in for free. Here is what I suggest they do to get there: 1. Drive down with a parent and the parent pay to watch; 2. Drive down in a group and park in a parking garage. Parking will be expensive-it could be up to $30 for the event. You can split the cost of parking among everyone in the car. But, if you only have 4 or fewer people traveling together, I would suggest you take the Metro Link. The Shrewsbury station is the closest to South. I would be happy to meet you there to catch the 5:48 train. It will take about 45-50 minutes to ride the train but you don't have to pay for parking or deal with traffic. I think ticket prices are $2.50 per direction. As we get closer to the night, I'll get a list of who wants to go and how they plan to get there.

10/04/2021 Spirit of '76 Update

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Happy October Band Family!

Last weekend was interesting: rain, delayed festival, suddenly nice weather, followed by more rain on the way home. Things didn't go very well for us last week and that showed on Saturday. Let's turn over a new leaf and get some good rehearsal in. That means making every effort to be at rehearsals and being ready to go ON TIME. If rehearsal begins at 5:30, you need to be at school by 5:00ish to get your instrument out and get props where they need to go so we can start getting better by 5:30. No one wants to see Cranky Kinworthy again!

Here is what our schedule looks like this week:
Monday, Oct. 4: Rehearsal 2:30 - 3:30 Band room
Tuesday, Oct. 5: Rehearsal 2:30 - 5:15 Practice field
Wednesday, Oct. 6: Rehearsal 5:30 - 6:15 Practice field; Powder Puff football game pep band 6:30 - 8:30 Varsity Field (wear show shirts)
Thursday, Oct. 7: Rehearsal 2:30 - 5:15 Practice field
Friday, Oct. 8: Pep Rally during AC LAB (we'll play some pep tunes before, 1st movement, or maybe 3rd for our "spot" and fight song at the end)

Homecoming Football Game: Practice at 4:30-5:45; bring food to eat for dinner. Game starts at 7:00, we will do halftime with costumes.

Monday, Oct. 11: Rehearsal 2:30 - 3:30 Band room
Tuesday, Oct. 12: Rehearsal 2:30 - 5:15 Practice Field
Wednesday, Oct. 13: No Rehearsal due to Parent Conferences--Guard may have a different schedule. talk to Alyssa.
Thursday, Oct. 14: Rehearsal 2:30 - 5:30
Friday, Oct. 15: Rehearsal-- 9:00 am - 12:00 pm (there is no school this day)
Saturday, Oct. 16: Rebel Invitational at Park Hills, Flat River MO--Arrive at South @6:45 am; Perform @ 11:30 am; Home between 6:30 pm and midnight. Schedule can be found on spirit76.net and Facebook


10/18: No school--Fall Break: No rehearsal
10/19: Rehearsal
10/20: Rehearsal
10/21: Rehearsal
10/22: Bands of America Super Regional (schedule coming soon)--Tonight is also Senior Night. All band seniors will be recognized and hopefully we can get someone to take pictures. Procedures for tonight are still up in the air.
10/23: Bands of American Finals (unfortunately, we will not make finals, this show is brutal. BUT students can go to watch finals on Saturday night. We will purchase tickets for those who wish to go. Drum Majors will need to be at Pre-lim awards in uniform to get our paperweight, er, trophy).

08/30/2021 Symphonic Band Update

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It never seems quite right that we have performances before we really have a chance to get used to each other and get in depth into some music, but here we are in August and early September and we have 2 events.

First:  We have a home football game on Thursday, Sept. 2 vs. Webster Groves.  This is also Spirit Night.  From what I understand, the fall athletic teams will be doing scrimmages around campus and activities will be showcased before and around the football game.  As the band, we provide the spirit function along with the cheerleaders and Patriettes.  

We need non-marching members of the Symphonic bands to be at the band room at 6:00 on this evening to get into uniform.  Come to school wearing your pep band t-shirt, black socks and some comfortable all black tennis shoes.  The students will then get into uniform.  If you have long hair, it will need to be put up into the hat.   We will then go down to the stadium, play the Star Spangled Banner, and provide music and excitement (well as much as the state organization will allow) for the 1st half.  At halftime, members of the Spirit of '76 will do part of the competitive show, then we will go back to the band room, get out of uniform and non-marchers may leave or are more than welcome to stay.  Attached is a more detailed schedule.

Second:  We have the Manchester Homecoming Parade on Saturday, September 11.  Students will need to be in their pep band t-shirts and as much goofy swim/beach wear as they can wear and still be able to walk and play their horn.  Students need to arrive at The Journey Church at 9:15.  Step-off is at 10:00 and the parade usually take around an hour.  Students can be picked up at Southwest Middle (using the South High drive) around 11:00 am.  A more detailed schedule will be sent next week or you may find it on your student's Schoology page for the Symphonic Band, Sec. 1 and 2, Percussion pages.  

The school band is an important part of any community.  Everyone loves to see a band coming their way and we intend to provide a quality performance mixed in with a fun look and appearance.  We will be working in class on music and how to come together or "march" without being too competitive or military in our look.  

I would like to ask that the students work to drink more water than normally these next couple of weeks.  Not knowing what the weather will be on parade day, I want the students as healthy as possible for the parade.

For conflicts, please communicate with me as soon as possible to see what can be worked out.

08/30/2021 Update from the Band Director

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Happy 2nd week everyone! Here's what's going on in the Spirit of '76 this week:

Monday, Aug. 30: Spirit of '76 Rehearsal 2:30 - 3:30 (please contact me if this is an impossible situation)

Tuesday, Aug. 31: Spirit of '76 Rehearsal 2:30 - 5:15 (hopefully it won't rain)

Wednesday, Sept. 1: Spirit of '76 Rehearsal 5:30 - 8:30 pm (varsity field, as of now)

Thursday, Sept. 2: Home Football Vs. Webster Groves/Spirit Night (Home Football Game Guidelines schedule attached)


Tuesday, Sept. 7: Spirit of '76 Rehearsal (parade and show)

Wednesday, Sept. 8: Open House--rehearsal may be cancelled. We'll send notice with the students.

Thursday, Sept. 9: Spirit of '76 Rehearsal (parade and show)

Friday, Sept. 10: Spirit of '76 Rehearsal (parade and show). TAKE YOUR INSTRUMENT HOME TONIGHT!

Saturday, Sept. 11: Manchester Homecoming Parade and Spirit of '76 Parent Preview (more below)

Sept. 13: Spirit of '76 Rehearsal

Sept. 14: Spirit of '76 Rehearsal

Sept. 15: Spirit of '76 Rehearsal

Sept. 16: Spirit of '76 Rehearsal

Sept. 17: Home Football Game vs. Ritenour/8th Grade Night (info coming when I know some)


What can you do as a parent? Well, let me tell you:

--We need parents Thursday, Sept. 2 to help get students into uniform, supervise changing rooms, get everyone out the door, block off seating for band in stands, help provide water during the 1st half of the game, move pit equipment and props onto the field, help students get out of uniform and hang up the uniform and to support the guidelines set in the schedule attached.

--We need parents on Saturday, Sept. 11 to help drop off students at The Journey Church, pull a wagon with water bottles since we can't share a spray bottle, walk with the band (wear band gear) to assist with any student who need medical attention, to pick up students at Southwest Middle after the parade (do NOT come in off Sulphur Springs), to sit and enjoy our preview and to help get all band equipment into the band room after the preview.