Marching Spartans
Welcome to the 2025 Marching Spartans show: Vampire Hunter under the direction of Rebekah Psihountas.
The band also is grateful for the support of the Marching Spartans Instructors: Christian Howard, Tyrice Lattimore, Nicholas Psihountas, Andrew Watt & Nya Smith.
Important Information from Mrs Psi:
Remind
I use Remind as my form of communication with students. I have created a NEW remind group for parents and students. Please join the respective group. Veteran students and parents will also need to join these new groups as I will be deleting the others soon. Every student is required to be in the Remind group. I also need at least one parent (more are welcome) for each student in the parent Remind group. The parent group is where I send out updates to parents about our travels (when we are on the way back from games, etc). Please make sure to join or you will have no idea what is happening. You can either download the app and enter the codes in Mrs. Psi’s email or text those numbers and codes to just receive text messages. It is all free.
Here are some details for the year (please read everything as this is all important information):
Virtual Band Hall
Go to mounttaborhsband2025.com
Use the password from Mrs. Psi’s email on July 2nd, or else email or send a message via remind if you have forgotten.
From there, scroll to find music and recordings for your instrument.
Rookie Camp
Rookie camp is for anyone (colorguard, percussion, or winds) that has never marched before. This also includes those that did not attend band camp last year. Marching band leadership will also be required to attend rookie camp. Any veterans that would like to attend are more than welcome. Rookie camp will be July 16 & 17 8am-12pm. A portion of this will be outside. Bring a reusable water bottle and wear athletic clothes and tennis shoes.
Band Camp
Band camp is required to participate in marching band for the season. This is where we learn all fundamentals and begin learning the competition show. To put the time into perspective, one day of band camp is equivalent to almost two weeks of afterschool rehearsals. We will get more done during band camp than during any rehearsal during the school year. It is very important that everyone attends all of band camp. If there are any conflicts, please let me know and we will try to work it out. Band camp will be July 21-24 & July 28- 31 8am-5pm. There will be a lunch break and students will need to bring their lunch.
We will have a required Parent Meeting after camp on Thursday July 24 at 6pm in the auditorium. Please make sure there is a parent/guardian represented for each student. The biggest question I get every year is “What do the fees cover?” This will be discussed at this meeting. So please make plans to attend.
In preparation for camp, please start spending some time outside. This summer has proven to be a hot one. The more you are out in the sun, the easier camp will be. Go for a walk each day or sit outside a read a book/do summer assignments. Start drinking lots of water. Try to stay away from sodas and junk food. They will only make band camp more miserable for you. We will have shade, water, and cooling towels. But getting used to the sun now is the best way to not be miserable at camp in the heat. EVERYONE MUST HAVE A REUSABLE WATER BOTTLE FOR EVERY REHEARSAL (including rehearsals after band camp). We will have ice water available for students, but we will not be providing cups to reduce waste. I cannot stress this enough; everyone needs to have a water bottle for their own use. I do not recommend sharing water bottles.
At the end of band camp (Thursday July 31 at 5pm), we do a Friends and Family night where we show everyone what we have been working on for two weeks. Then we all have a meal (potluck style). Be on the lookout for an email with a sign up for this dinner.
**If you have any conflicts with band camp, please let me know as soon as possible. If you have already told me about a conflict, please reply to this email or send me a message on Remind just so I have it all in one location to remember.
Rehearsals after band camp
Rehearsals after band camp and after-school rehearsals will be as followed: Mondays 4:30-6:30pm will be for colorguard and percussion only (this time may be extended to 7:30). Tuesday and Thursdays 4:30-7:30pm will be for everyone. All rehearsals are mandatory. I kindly ask you not to schedule any kind of doctor appointments on these days if you can avoid it. If your student is one who likes to get themselves in trouble, please do not use taking away rehearsals, games, or competitions as a form on punishment. This hurts the entire group and that is not fair to any of us. Talk with me and I can help implement any other punishment during our rehearsal time (push ups, laps, cleaning the band room, sorting music, etc) to make up for it.
Football Games
The marching band attends every varsity football game that the team plays, including playoffs. Games are Friday nights and usually start at 7, but that can change sometimes. Here is the schedule for next season:
August 22: Away @ Reagan HS
August 29: Home vs. Lake Norman HS
September 5: Away @ Page HS
September 12: Away @ West Forsyth HS
September 19: Away @ Northwest Guilford HS
September 26: Bye week (no game) but will most likely have rehearsal instead
October 3: Home vs. North Davidson HS (8th grade night)
October10: Away @ North Forsyth HS
October 17: Home vs. Oak Grove HS (homecoming?)
October 24: Away @ Atkins HS
October 31: Home vs. Glenn HS (senior night)
November 4,14, 21, 28 (Black Friday), Dec. 5, 12: Possible Playoff Games
All games are required, even if students do not attend school for a holiday or teacher workday.
Competitions
The MTHS Marching Band travels to marching band competitions and festivals. This is where bands compete in classes based off size and perform for other bands, parents, and judges. Students enjoy this a lot and is a large reason why we perform a challenging marching band show. These competitions are on Saturdays ranging from the end of September to the beginning of November. We will not perform every week during that span, but keep the following days open for an all-day marching event:
September 27
October 4 (SAT day)*
October 11
October 18 (ACT day)*
*If you are planning on taking the SAT or ACT please choose a different day.
Other SAT Dates: August 23, September 13 and November 8
Other ACT Dates: September 6 and December 13
Jamboree/Parades
The marching band performs in two parades in Winston-Salem. They also perform at he WSFCS Jamboree where all the schools in the county come together to perform their halftime/competition shows for each other.
The WSFCS Jamboree will be Tuesday October 7 (rain date: Tues. Oct. 21) at Deaton Thompson Stadium (Parkland’s stadium)
The Veteran’s Day Parade will be Saturday, November 8.
The Holiday Parade will be Saturday December 6.
Dues
Marching Band does require dues for the season. With everything, one season costs well over $10,000, and we cannot supply that on our own. The dues for this year are $250 for winds and percussion and $350 for colorguard. There was a deposit of $50 due on May 23rd. If you have not paid this deposit, please pay this as soon as possible. Your deposit will go towards your total dues. You can pay the rest in whole or pay in smaller installments throughout the season. We take cash or checks made out to MTHS Band. If you need to pay online, go to this link (https://osp.osmsinc.com/WSFCS/BVModules/ProductTemplates/Bvc2013/Product.aspx?productid=AM074-VAR27 or https://osp.mthsbands.com for short). Just be sure to include the student name in the description. Here is a recommended schedule for payments:
| Date | Winds/Percussion | Colorguard |
| Friday, May 23 (deposit) | $50 | $50 |
| Monday, July 21 | $50 | $60 |
| Friday, August 1 | $50 | $60 |
| Friday, September 5 | $50 | $60 |
| Friday, October 3 | $50 | $60 |
| Friday, October 31 | any dues not paid | $60 |
** Any unpaid dues after November 8th will be added to student account and will follow them until graduation
All dues are to be paid by November 8th unless you have spoken to me to make other arrangements. If there are any financial troubles, please let me know. No one should be deprived of music because of finances. If we have worked out an arrangement in the past, please reach out to me again if you still need assistance.
Parent Volunteers
Marching band takes a lot of people to run successfully. This includes the parents. Moving equipment to chaperoning to getting food and other things that I, the marching band staff, nor the students can do. We do have a parent volunteer coordinator that will get things rolling. Parents, be on the lookout for a volunteer email with more information. We desperately need more parent volunteers this year! Please consider helping out! https://signup.mthsbands.com Right now, here are a few things I know we will need:
Band Camp chaperones in the morning every day
Pulling the band trailer
Bus driver (possibly 2 let me know if you are interested in getting a CDL to drive a bus. Our numbers are going up and we may need to use more than one bus)
Front Ensemble crew for home games and competitions
Stands chaperones for football games
Chaperones for competitions
Uniform supervisor
and others
We need your help for this season to be great!
Other Information
I will be sending home forms during the first few days of camp. These will include the membership contract, travel and medical permission forms, and other forms you may need to have filled out. Be on the lookout for these once camp gets started. Students will not be able to travel with us unless I have all forms filled out.
Before our first competition and for away games, we will be in a “Class B” uniform. It will be the band t-shirt that we will provide, khaki shorts or pants. Please look into buying some khaki shorts and/or pants for the season. I suggest having a pair of shorts and pants to prepare for the season. We start out in the heat, but the end of the season will be colder.
Class A uniform will be the traditional marching band uniform. Students will need their band shirt, activity/gym shorts, black socks, and will need to purchase marching band shoes if they do not have any yet (generally $40-$50). Colorguard will have their own uniform that is show-themed (included in dues).
There is usually a drivers ed class or two that runs during marching band season. Please do not sign up until marching band season is over so you are not losing rehearsal time and hurting the band by not being at rehearsals for two weeks. That is a lot of time and new material learned in that time.