Festival for both 7/8 grade Band and 7/8th grade strings will be Wednesday, March 15. Strings perform at 4:30, with sight-reading at 4:55. Band performs at 6:00 with sight-reading at 6:25 All who want to return to Stout on the bus will return here at about 7:30 pm, or so.
Festival is at
Riverside Middle School
25900 W Warren St, Dearborn Heights, MI 48127
Mrs. Haddad, (haddadt@dearbornschools.org, 827-1527), the Freshmen counselor at Edsel worked very hard to accommodate our musicians and the musicians from Smith Middle School. She was unable to change the date or times of the orientation, which is understandable given the number of other people involved. So she has offered a personal tour of the building to all who would like one. (I recommend you go in groups.) She will give you all the information needed, answer your questions, and introduce you to coaches and faculty that you would like to meet. She mentioned she and Mr. Kiefer (kieferk@dearbornschools.org, 827-1523) are eager to help in any way possible. A well deserved thank you to Mrs. Haddad for giving hours of her time to work out an issue for middle school music.
The students in the string orchestra could attend both festival and Freshmen orientation at Edsel if you would like to come and watch us perform at 4:30, then take them immediately following their sight-reading. Band students won’t be able to make the orientation due to the time of their performance. However, if you take them following sight-reading they won’t miss too much. The drawback for those who leave early is that they do not get to see the ratings posted.
Finally, I’d like to thank Mrs. Dobos for arranging our parent helpers. To our parent helpers for the festival, Donya Haidar, Rebecca Hermen, and Charissa Moreau. And transportational thanks to Mr. Noomie for hauling the trailer full of instruments to and from Riverside Middle School.
It takes many people to help prepare for an event.
If you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask.
Jim Walters
March 13, 2017 at 3:28 pm
I’d like to express my disappointment that we have to miss high school orientation. Orientation is a big part of the whole transition to high school. I understand Mrs Haddad will accommodate anyone wishing to tour the school, but we will still miss the entire presentation and process. Why couldn’t the festival have been rescheduled for a different day? Why was the 15th chosen as the new date?
March 13, 2017 at 5:53 pm
The festival is run by the Michigan Band and Orchestra Association. There are schools from at least four separate districts coming to Riverside Middle School. At the state level, they would not know about Edsel Ford’s orientation. They have done the best they can to reschedule the event in a timely manner. We have done the best we can to accommodate the needs of our students. Many hours have been spent by multiple people to help your children have a smooth transition into high school. It was literally the first call I made when I found out festival was canceled.