The VCHS Marching Band & Color Guard will combine with the Junior High Marching Band and the new Junior High Color Guard Club to march in the Chinese New Year Parade in downtown San Francisco on Saturday evening, February 27. More information will follow. There will be a rehearsal the week prior as well as another rehearsal earlier in the day on February 27. Students will be served dinner and will travel by bus to San Francisco. The parade will be televised on Channel 2 from 6 o’clock to 8 o’clock PM. Mark your calendars!

Congratulations to the following students who were honored at the 2010 Valley Christian High School Marching Band & Color Guard Awards Banquet on Friday, January 22, at the Holiday Inn in San Jose:

Director’s Awards for Outstanding Leadership, Performance & Character
Serena Brown, Iryna Butsky, Claire Karlsson, Ryan Kroetch, Courtney Magleby, Rebecca Roth, Silas Walker, Katherine Young

Leadership Awards
Kirsti Heid, Brian Hix, Victoria Quinto, Canyon Read, Fredrick Sankus, Kevin Walker

Percussion Awards

• Drum Line Rookie of the Year:  Rylan Harper
• Pit Percussion Rookie of the Year:  Harrison Zhuo
• Drum Line Most Improved:  Kyla Hanes
• Pit Most Improved:  Kevin Nguyen / Jay Lee
• “The Look:”  Sean Massa

Section Leader Awards

• Drumline:  JoJo Ramirez
• Pit Percussion:  Danny Lampe
• Low Brass:  Alex Joe
• Tubas:  Silas Walker
• Flutes:  Kirsti Heid
• Clarinets:  Claire Templeton
• Saxophones:  Fredrick Sankus
• Color Guard:  Corina Avilla-Weston
• Drum Major:  Iryna Butsky

Todd Ryan’s Visual Awards

• Rookie of the Year:  Jay Salandanan
• Outstanding Attitude:  Kirsti Heid
• Most Improved Marcher:  Peter Chen
• Outstanding Leadership (Male):  Fredrick Sankus
• Outstanding Leadership (Female):  Merissa Roffey
• Best Marcher:  Silas Walker
• Largest Step Size:  Alyssa Chung
• Showmanship Award for Marching with Pride:  Serena Brown, Aaron Ross, Andrew Vaquilar
• Best Marching Section:  Bass Drums

Kristi Ryan’s Color Guard Awards

• Rookie of the Year:  Chelsea Chida
• Most Improved:  Isabeau Flynn
• Most Valuable:  Katherine Young
• Most Dedicated:  Corina Avilla-Weston
• Best Attitude:  Claire Karlsson
• Best Rookie Performer:  Brooke Read
• Most Inspirational:  Victoria Butsky
• Best Show Image:  Michelle Joo
• Hardest Worker:  Jennifer Mudd-Walker

“Students’ Choice” Awards

• Rookies of the Year:  Alyssa Chung & Rohit Tigga
• Sophomores of the Year:  Serena Brown & Ben Thompson
• Juniors of the Year:  Victoria Quinto & Fredrick Sankus
• Seniors of the Year:  Iryna Butsky & Canyon Read
• Best Eyes:  Iryna Butsky & Rylan Harper
• Best Smile:  Samantha Rubino & Victoria Butsky (Tie), Kevin Nguyen
• Best Laugh:  Samantha Rubino & Andrew Laucella
• Best Hair:  Claire Templeton & Peter Chen
• Best Attitude:  Serena Brown & Victoria Quinto (Tie), Fredrick Salinas & Silas Walker (Tie)
• Most Lovable:  JoJo Ramirez & Harrison Zhuo
• Most Likely to Become a Comedian:  JoJo Ramirez & Danny Lampe
• Best-Looking in Uniform:  Katherine Young & Serena Brown (Tie) Nick Thompson
• Most Talkative in Color Guard:  Michelle Joo
• Most Talkative in Band:  Clare Chaplin & Aaron Ross
• Inseparables:  Corina Avilla-Weston & Drake Bloom, Honorable Mention:  Ben & Nick Thompson
• Most Likely to Take Over the World:  Alyssa Chung & Silas Walker
• Biggest Band Geek:  Merissa Roffey & Silas Walker
• Most Likely to Be in an Insane Asylum:  Clare Chaplin & Peter Chen
• Most Likely to Be a Band Director:  Iryna Butsky & Merissa Roffey (Tie), Aaron Ross
• Most Likely to Be a Color Guard Instructor:  Corina Avilla-Weston & Fredrick Sankus
• Most Likely to Go Through Band Withdrawal:  Kirsti Heid & Canyon Read
• Most Likely to Never Show Their Face Again:  Kyla Hanes & Alex Joe
• Mr. Gunter’s Favorite Section:  Low Brass
• Mr. Wilson’s Favorite Section:  Drumline
• Todd Ryan’s Favorite Section:  Saxophones
• Best Marching Section:  Saxophones
• Best Section Apparel:  Flutes
• Best Visual:  Shredder
• Best Prop:  Ladders
• Favorite Memory:  Warm-Up Arc at Championships
• Best Inside Joke:  Throwing Babies
• Best Todd Saying:  “Woogity!”

Information

Send in your Reservation for the Awards Banquet! It will be on Friday, January 22, at the Holiday Inn in San Jose. Be ready for dressy clothing, a great dinner, dessert, awards, videos, and dancing!

Download the Reservation Form

Schedule
6:00PM Arrival & Social (Sodas and other drinks available for purchase at the bar.)
6:30PM Dinner
7:00PM Video #1
7:15PM Awards
7:45PM Dessert
8:00PM Video #2
8:30PM-11:00PM Dancing

A special thank you to Dr. Daugherty and Mr. Lodewyk for traveling the championship road trip with the band and offering prayers and inspiration to the students and parents.

The competitive field show season ended on a high note for the 2009 Marching Band and Color Guard by winning the Western Band Association Championship for Class AA. Along with receiving the highest score for their division, they were awarded trophies for Best Music, Best Color Guard, Best Visual Performance, and Best General Effect. The WBA Championships were held in Fresno on November 21 & 22, with 71 high school bands competing and over 6,000 students participating.

This year’s musical program was composed by the 2006 Valley Christian Valedictorian, Ian Perry, and was entitled “From the Ashes.” This original piece, composed in three movements, included the “Struggle” (click to listen), “Ashes” (click to listen), and “Triumph (click to listen),” inspired by the story of the Phoenix. After graduation from Valley, Perry has continued his studies at Biola University in La Mirada, California, where he is a Torrey Scholar and a music composition major. For the past three years he has been instrumental in the success of the Valley Christian Marching Band by composing the music for the 2007 field show “Concept Z;” in 2008 “Ghost Train;” and in 2009 “From the Ashes.” Future goals for this talented young composer include writing musical scores for the entertainment industry.

During the fall of 2009 season in judged competition the 74 members of the Valley Christian Marching Band and Color Guard were awarded Sweepstakes in Class A/AA/AAA three times and received numerous caption awards. Congratulations to the members of the band on their award winning season!

While competition season has ended, the activities are not over!

The Marching Band & Color Guard Awards Banquet is scheduled for January.

The Ladies’ Tea, hosted by the Marching Band & Color Guard is scheduled for May 1.

More information to be posted later.

VCHS Marching Band & Color Guard Championship Results

• 1st Place Award in the Class AA Preliminary Competition on 11/21/09 (Out of 9 AA bands)
• 2009 Western Band Association Combined Grand Championship Finalist
• 6th Place in Finals Competition on 11/22/09 (Out of A/AA/AAA 15 bands)

The Band Booster parents will host a celebration lunch for the students on Monday, Novermber 23, next to the band trailer.  Students, come and enjoy!

This is a one-night overnight trip, leaving on Saturday and returning Sunday afternoon.  There will be performances on both days: apreliminary competition on Saturday and a finals competition on Sunday.

Saturday Schedule:

Location:  Koligian Stadium (4200 N. Grantland Ave., Fresno, CA)

Gates Open: 10:00 AM

VC Competition Time:  4:14 PM

Celebration Supper: Approx. 5:30 PM – 6:00 PM

Awards:  9:15 PM

Sunday Schedule:

Location: Buchanan High School (1560 N. Minnewawa Ave., Clovis, CA)

Gates Open: 10:00 AM

VC Competition Time:  TBA

Prices:
Adults: $15
Seniors / Children:  $10 sr/child
Ages 5 & Under: Free
(Wristbands are good for both days.)

Don’t forget to sign your student out with Mrs. Wiens at the bus if he or she is riding home with you.

GO VALLEY!

Sweepstakes!

Congratulations to the marching band and color guard on their top win at the Logan competition! They took the Sweepstakes Award for the combined A/AA/AAA small band class with a score of 80.45! They also won all caption awards for Best Music, Best Visual Effect, Best General Effect, Best Auxiliary, and Best Percussion. There were 15 bands in the A/AA/AAA class at Logan: 8 A bands, 3 AA bands, and 4 AAA bands.

Congratulations again to the band, guard, and staff!

Schedule

Students will have rehearsal at VCHS on Saturday at 9 AM.  Bring a lunch, underclothes, and black socks.  Depart for Diablo Valley College (same venue as last week).

Show starts:  2:20 PM (National Anthem)
Performance time for VCHS:  4:44 PM
Awards:   9:15 PM

Students may check out at the trailer with Mrs. Wiens with their parents and leave DVC to go to the Sadie Hawkins Dance.  Please let her know if your student will be going to the dance.  All arrangements must be cleared with Mrs. Wiens (mwiens@vcs.net) in advance of Saturday.   Students staying for awards and leaving with parents must
also check out with Mrs. Wiens.

Students will eat dinner after their performance and go back to the stands to watch the large bands and awards.  Arrival time back at VCHS is expected to be between 11 and midnight.   As always, we will have students call you when we are 20 minutes from VCHS.

Go Valley Christian Marching Band & Color Guard!

We had a wonderful show, thanks to you!  Great weather, yummy snacks, a happy crowd, cheerful workers….we call that a success!

Our students performed spectacularly, earning their best score to date of 78.05!  Valley Christian performed in exhibition, as the hosts, and did not compete.

Next week – the Logan High School show, also being held at DVC.  Information will be posted here soon.

Thank you again, parents, and congratulations, students!

Schedule
Director’s Information Packet
Parent Information Sheet
Map to DVC

Please note!
There will be no dinner or hot food concession sales at The Quest Classic due to the small number of bands at the show. The VCHS Parent Boosters will sell drinks and packaged snacks.

VCHS Student Schedule for The Quest Classic:

• Student call time:  9:00 am at VCHS – rehearsal in VCHS stadium and pack trailer
• Students should bring a lunch.  Don’t forget black socks and underclothes.   A sweatshirt or jacket will be needed for watching the other bands from the stands later in the evening.
• Students will depart for DVC by bus after lunch, and arrive by approximately 2:30 pm, set up for rehearsal on DVC field.
• Equipment will be left on the field, students will return to the trailer for a break, snack and to get dressed.  VCHS is the first band to perform in exhibition at 6:55 pm.
• Ticket prices are $12 adult, $5 seniors (62+) and children 5-12 years.  Under 5 is free.
• Program price is $5
• Gates open at 6:00 pm, opening ceremonies start at 6:30 pm.  Emily Templeton will sing the national anthem.  Then VCHS performs at 6:55 pm.  Logan goes on at 8:30, the last band, and awards will be presented at 9:00 pm.  VCHS will perform in exhibition only, not competition.
• Hot food for guests will not be served by DVC Concessions at our show, as the show is small -the boosters will sell drinks and pre-packaged snacks, and there will be a coffee/hot chocolate vendor.  So eat dinner before you come, and buy a hot drink and snack!
• Students will be served a boxed dinner after their performance, after everything is put away.  They will take their dinner into the stands to watch the other bands perform.
• You may take your student home with you IF you SIGN THEM OUT with Mrs. Wiens.
• She will be at the band trailer at the end, after awards, so meet them there to sign out.
• We will only have one bus returning to VCHS, so we encourage parents to take their own student home.

Thank you!

Valley received 5th Place in the “Black Opal” class out of 10 bands, and 12th overall out of 24 bands.  This was our first time competing in the Marching Band Open Series (MBOS) Southern California circuit.   Valley Christian performed first at 9:20 am in this competition.

Sweepstakes Award for small band division (A, AA, AAA)!  A first for VCHS to win Sweepstakes as a AA band over 7 AAA bands.

Caption awards for:

• Best Visual
• Best General Effect
• Best Auxiliary

First Place in AA!

Caption awards for:

• Best Music
• Best Visual
• Best Percussion
• Best General Effect
• Best Auxiliary