Dear HHS Band Students and Parents,
Happy New Year!
Please take a moment to view these sample itineraries below for our potential 2016 Spring Performance Tour. Once you view the itineraries, I would very much appreciate parents and students taking the time to complete your corresponding survey below by Monday, January 19. Your feedback will guide the Music Boosters and myself in our efforts to plan the best possible trip for 2016 with the maximum student and parent participation. Once a trip has been finalized, a trip rollout meeting will be announced in late February or early March.
Itineraries:
Hawaii (Note: This itinerary should state that this trip is a 6-day, 5-night trip and not a 5-day one like the others. The quoted price is correct for a 6-day trip)
Surveys:
The trip will be open to all current 8th-11th grade students and parents enrolled in band in the 2015-2016 school year, so current seniors and their parents need not take this survey. I will be sending this email to current 8th grade students as well, but if you know any of these students or families please pass the information onto them as well.
Some notes on the trip:
- The Music Boosters and I organize a trip every other year for students to participate in. Past trips have included Beijing (2008), Disneyland/Southern California (2010 and 2014), and Washington D.C. (2012).
- Participation in the trip is OPTIONAL and has NO EFFECT on any student’s grade.
- Regardless of which trip we choose, the dates will be Wednesday, May 25 thru Sunday, May 29 (5 days, 4 nights). This is over Memorial Day weekend. Students will miss 3 days of school, and then have Memorial Day Monday off to decompress before returning to school. This is when our trip to Disneyland took place last year.
- The order of events and even some of the events themselves in each itinerary are simply examples. Some of them may be moved around or replaced by other events. Most of the itineraries have other activities listed at the end.
- The quoted prices are an estimate at this point, and I asked the travel company to give us their “worst-case scenario.” The chances of the trip being less than the quoted amount is high, but it is possible the trip will cost the quoted amount. Trying to estimate variable costs such as airfare is tough to do 18 months out.
- We need a minimum of 35 students and 3 chaperones to commit by March 25, 2015 (about 10 weeks from now) in order to proceed with the trip. After that, we can still add more students on a space-available basis (basically until the airplanes and charter buses fill up). We must maintain a 10:1 ratio of students to adults as well (I count as an adult).
- All travelers will have to be paid in full 60 days prior to departure (March 25, 2016). By getting the process in motion in March 2015, families will have a full year to make smaller monthly payments on the trip or participate in any fundraising activities to offset the cost.
- Travelers and their families are encouraged to participate in individual fundraising to offset the cost of this trip. A parent-led and parent-organized fundraising committee will be set up and organized at our trip rollout meeting. It is the responsibility of the committee members to take charge of fundraising. The music booster officers and I will offer guidance/advice and assist when necessary, but most of the officers and I already have a lot on our plates with normal music booster activities. This model worked well in previous trips, particularly last year.
If you have any further questions or comments regarding the trip, please leave them at the end of your survey. If you would like a direct response to your question or comment, please be sure to email me directly as the survey is anonymous.
Thanks!
Corey McEnry
Director of Bands
Hockinson High School
16819 NE 159th St.
Brush Prairie, WA 98606
(360) 448-6450 x5594
corey.mcenry@hocksd.org
www.hockinsonmusic.com