Search This Blog

Thursday, September 04, 2014

Mahanoy Area board approves 'Coal CrackerJazz Band'

MAHANOY CITY — The Mahanoy Area School Board approved a request from the high school band director to establish the “Coal Cracker Jazz Band” and its related activity club.

The board approved the bylaws of the activity club as presented by middle school band director Jason Wenrich.
“Jason is voluntarily starting up the jazz band,” Superintendent Joie L. Green said, adding that there had been a jazz band, but it was not a formal band as this new one now is.
According to the bylaws, “The goal of the ensemble is to educate the students of Mahanoy Area the jazz genre. The students will learn jazz standards, basic jazz methods and jazz genres. The education will come through written music, recorded audio music, recorded visual music and any other medium deemed necessary by the band director.
“The goal of performance includes that the band will annually perform two school concerts. They will be Christmas and spring concerts,” Green said.
The band will also be available for out-of-school performances at the discretion of the director, and payment for these events will be accepted, if offered, but will not be requested. If asked, a standard donation of $50 to $100 would be suggested for a standard 45-minute playing session.
In other business, Green reported that a $4,900 grant was received from the Center for Safe Schools for “go-buckets,” which are also called “go-kits” and “go-bags.”
“We ordered 77 go-buckets, so every classroom in the district has a go-bucket,” Green said.
According to the CSS website, a go-bucket is a large bucket with a lid that is frequently used with it. The bucket serves multiple purposes. While it will be used primarily as a container for supplies, it can also serve as a temporary stool for the teacher when outside the school building. Additionally and as a last resort, when fitted with a plastic trash can liner, toilet paper and plastic tarp or shower curtain (as a privacy barrier), the bucket can also be used as a temporary lavatory.
“A bucket has all the safety things for a class of 25,” Green said. “It also comes with a toilet seat that can be placed on the bucket so if there was a major emergency and the students are stuck in a classroom for days, we have those available. Every classroom has one of the those and the teacher has a backpack, which has an emergency kit.”

From The Pottsville Republican

No comments: