TWHSParent

How about doing the entirety of La Villa Strangiato?

Short answer - Yes, we will participate if we qualify (unless something changes over the next 5 weeks). That weekend is the only weekend without a football game on the schedule (other than the FB Team's off week later in October).

Since I see it is halftime at the first football game (no, I didn't go. Recovering from a trip to Norway - in case you've never experienced it, jetlag is real!): The Woodlands - "Synapse". Title is a wee bit shorter than last year's...

You mention the numbers management in the video. I have had an opportunity to sit in the press box and tabulate the scores from the judges during Lone Star Preview last year (and probably will again this year), and the chief judge would occasionally check to see that things were staying within what he thought was the correct scoring region. That is the extent of my experience so far, so not much. Would something like that be happening between the panels here? Are they going to have the same chief judge? I would think they would want to start at essentially the same baseline so that the "next 4" will have as close as possible to an even comparison. It will be interesting and fun!

Area F 6A High Schools Region 9 College Park Conroe Klein Klein Cain Klein Collins Klein Forest Klein Oak Oak Ridge The Woodlands Tomball Memorial Region 10 West Brook Region 33 Aldine Atascocita Carver Dekaney Eisenhower Ella Boulevard Humble King Kingwood MacArthur Nimitz North Shore Spring Summer Creek Westfield Wunsche If I had to guess, and I don't know much about many of these bands, I would guess the main ones to watch are Westfield, Spring, North Shore, Tomball Memorial, The Woodlands, Oak Ridge, Klein Oak, College Park.

One comment: last year Conroe ISD started early - first day in 2017 was August 16th. So we (TWHS, College Park, Oak Ridge, Conroe) dealt with this early start date last year too. Will that experience help? No idea...

So to switch up the conversation a little, this year our only out of state participant is Camdenton, Missouri. They are a class AA band in BOA, finished in 3rd in AA and the 14th place finalist at St. Louis in 2017. While I don't think they will be a finalist at San Antonio, they certainly can win class AA and have a performance Saturday night. From looking at recent results, it would be between Camdenton and Southwest, and it looks fairly close. I think it is a great thing for the smaller out of state bands to come here, so we shouldn't forget about our visitors in 2018.

With the latest update to our Charms calendar, every football game except the one on this day is listed. So if I was to read into that, along with the "All day event" statement for the Conroe BOA entry, I would conclude TWHS will participate in finals if they make it.

I don't know. I am reminded of some posters last season that were a little bombastic in their appreciation for their band prior to GN. We have our schedule for camps, summer band, and contests, so all the parents should be reasonably informed for 2018.

2 BOA contests only: Conroe and San Antonio (plus UIL, of course). No out of state travel in 2018 for marching band.

How to say this delicately... based on last year's result, Prosper is not a GN finalist lock. If they can find 4 or 5 points with this year's show, then they will be fighting for top 12. We'll have to see what they learned from GN 2017 and how they apply that to their show in 2018. I certainly enjoyed watching them at Indy, but a guaranteed finalist band, even without other TX bands present? I wouldn't say that right now, but we'll have a good data point after the DFW regional, and certainly after San Antonio. In other words, this does not definitively move the needle for potential non-TX finalist bands at GN (yet). It will, however, knock someone out of semi-finals, as I think they are at least a semi-finalist.

It is always interesting to find out how other programs operate. Our band fees essentially double during Indy years, and there are many fundraisers and other opportunities to cover the costs. The band even runs a concession stand at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion here in The Woodlands where parents can work and have their earnings go directly to the band fees. Cost is always an issue, and as we all know the fees never decrease. Our fees this year are about $200 more than 2 years ago, which is a very significant increase for the non-Indy year. Of course we get desensitized - "Wow, this is so much less than last year!", so it almost looks like a bargain...

We don't - the football game is Friday night at home before San Antonio this year. The only Saturday football games are October 6th and 13th. There will be a new principal at TWHS and a new Conroe ISD superintendent this year. Who knows how that may play out... Also, one of our percussion instructors is taking a role at the new high school in Conroe ISD (Grand Oaks). His replacement should be announced soon.

My understanding is that Conroe ISD allows 1 out of state trip every 2 years, hence TWHS going to Indy every other year.

McCullough Jr High covers for TWHS at football games when we go to Indy, so I heard this as a possibility (hence my not confirmed statement). I'll keep tabs on that going forward to see how it works itself out.

This is not confirmed, but if it plays out like it did in 2015, TWHS will not be performing in finals at this contest (assuming we qualify). There is an away football game that evening at Klein Cain and for some reason that takes priority. Utter hogwash in my view.

Michael. Kiddo is in the pit for The Woodlands.

For The Woodlands, I can confirm BOA Houston and BOA San Antonio. They are still working out the final date for Lone Star Preview, which has recently been the weekend following BOA Houston.

Conroe ISD made that change this school year ('17-'18) - they started on August 16th. Next year ('18-'19) they start on August 15th. Having that shortened summer band schedule certainly had an effect this past season (and losing the week to a hurricane didn't help any), but I think the programs will adjust and continue to put out strong shows even with the limitations in place.

To your question regarding making finals at SA vs GN - I would say no. I think finals at GN is more difficult as there are 2 fewer spots and the competition level matches and usually exceeds SA at the top (generally, but there can be exceptions of course, such as 2017). I think MFA was clear that the extension to 80 bands was significantly directed to San Antonio. As I recall, they addressed that directly in their announcement by making a statement about the demand, especially at San Antonio. 2018 will also be different with the overall reduction of Super Regionals by 1, which also very likely played a major factor. Will bands that would have gone to Atlanta now go to Indy or St. Louis instead? Or maybe SA? What will Tarpon Springs do? They could come to SA and potentially win, and almost certainly make finals. I think they won't since it is a GN year for them, so only 1 big trip most likely, but it would be interesting if they did.

Rules? We don't need no stinkin' rules!

Looks like it will start with 9th and 10th grades only, so yes.

Conroe ISD is opening a new high school next year called Grand Oaks. I don't know how things will be redistributed, but it is more for Oak Ridge which has the same amount of students as The Woodlands, but in a smaller building (also 10-12 only just like The Woodlands). College Park has around 2900 students (9-12). These 3 high schools are very close together. I would guess that Oak Ridge will drop to about the same number of students as College Park with the new school.

Maybe if you take the top 70 or 80 members from the top BOA or UIL groups to match what appears to be the size of the groups in Japan, then I think there could be some that would do quite well. These are great videos - Thank you for finding and sharing them!

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