McLean High School Orchestra/MHSOPA

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	McLean High School Orchestra PARENTS Association Officers for 2010-2011 President: Eileen Nelson-Elect Vice President: Martha Kelley-Elect Treasurer: Jim Tenney-Elect Secretary: Anaya Farah-Elect Past President: Al Rizkalla Message From the President: Welcome to the start of another exciting school year for the McLean High School Orchestras! Concerts, competitions, Festivals, trips, German Exchange and other wonderful musical opportunities await your child. We are very grateful to have survived the Fairfax County proposed budget cuts this year and are more conscious of the need for our group to support the programs plans as we start a new school year. With the departing Seniors last year, we also lost many valuable Parents supporters, on whom we had come to rely. With just a small core group currently retained, we are hopeful that other parents will step up to help. We hope to meet the new and returning parents at the Ice Cream Social on Wednesday September 1st, or at the Parent General Meeting on Monday 13th September. We are happy to explain our roles and answer any questions you may have. Please review the Open PARENT Volunteer positions Thank You, Eileen Nelson President MHS Orchestra PARENTS Association 703-893-1834 What is MHSOPA? The MHS Orchestra PARENTS Association is a parent-run organization dedicated to supporting the student musician and the overall orchestra program through hands-on volunteer support. As a parent of a child in orchestra, you are automatically a member. We have a wealth of talented parents who come together to fill in the gaps where needed. We meet on a monthly basis to discuss how we can be most effective and you are invited and encouraged to participate. Reminders for the meetings will be posted on the website home page. What is our mission? Our mission is to support our students and orchestra director so that they will have a successful and enjoyable year. We organize social and fundraising activities, maintain communications, provide chaperones for trips, assist the orchestra director, maintain student accounts, and generally help in any way we can. We want to help our children and their orchestra classmates succeed in their efforts to become better musicians. It shows our students that we care about them. And we want all orchestra parents to be informed about what is happening in the musical life of our children. Why do we have to raise funds? We are thankful that we survived the recent Fairfax County proposed Budget cuts. The County provides minimal funding for our program and our students will have expenses as they participate in the orchestras during the school year. There are fees to participate in state mandated events such as Senior Regional Orchestra and VA All-State Orchestra, District 12 Senior District Orchestra and the District 12 Orchestra Festival. There are also fees for participation and transportation to the Spring Competition, new sheet music, equipment such as new instruments, professional sectional help and other expenses such as tux jackets for the gentlemen. We maintain a website and communicate with our orchestra families both electronically and through print. Very simply, we parents and students must provide our time and energy to raise the additional funds necessary to have our students participate in this wonderful program. Our fundraisers are designed to support two main purposes: The activity fee and car washes cover departmental expenses; the profits from the student product fundraisers count 100% toward the students’ accounts for the spring competition trip. What is MHSO Parents' role? • Helping with uniform measurement and ordering • Coordinating fundraising, including administration of product sales and setting up of car washes • Organizing and serving refreshments at concerts • Special events such as the German Exchange • Assisting the Director with administrative duties • Providing chaperones for the Spring Competition Trip • Providing communication to parents through print and internet media • Maintaining liaison with school administration and PTSA • Maintaining Orchestra's website


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