THE HOM MUSIC PROGRAM
In the past 7 years, our music program has gone from the brink of closing to a vibrant, award winning program. We have almost 200 talented and passionate music students currently enrolled in music classes. The classes we offer are Beginning and Advanced Bands, Percussion/ Drumline, Chorus, Orchestra and we have just recently been able to bring back our Jazz Band! Among the many awards and accolades we have been given are being invited to perform for the Superintendent and the School Board, being invited to perform at Disney Springs, being invited to perform side by side with the New World School of the Arts, being invited to perform at a Panther’s Game and at the Miami-Dade STEAM EXPO at the Miami Dade College. HOM Music Booster Club
Our program has some the highest number of middle school students performing at the District’s Solo & Ensemble evaluations and at MPAs our ensembles always score Excellent or Superior. We are so proud! Our goal as a Booster Club is to make sure that every student in our program has a working instrument to play and that every kid has the opportunity to be a part of this wonderful program regardless of their financial situation. We do not get any supplemental funding from the County aside from teacher salary so we rely on student fees, fundraisers and mostly on donations to keep the program functioning to it’s full potential.
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WHAT WE DO:
We are a 501(c) Non-Profit Organization being run by a group of volunteer music parents (currently all working moms) who offer some of our free time to help the music program in a number of areas.
We are in need of more members at large who help out and meet with us monthly but do not hold titles!
Our primary role is to help raise funds to help the music program function.
-The cost of running an awesome music program like ours is a lot!
-Dade County currently only pays the salary of our music director and all other expenses that the program has are left up to the the
Music Booster Club to cover.
These expenses include : instrument repairs (we spent about $3K last year on that alone), instrument purchases, buying sheet music for the students to play -which isexpensive ($2K went to that) busses to transport the kids and instruments to and from performances and county assessments (another $3K there) fees we have to pay for kids to participate in solos and ensembles as well as group MPA assessments (almost $3k too), Piano accompanist fees for the kids at solos and ensembles (over $3.5K), decorations for events, bringing in clinicians to work with the kids on specific instruments (this is very costly but essential to the kids progress), printing of programs for the concerts, feeding the kids when they are required to stay after school, buying supplies like printer ink, paper, and paying Booster registration and insurance fees. We often have to feed the kids when they have to stay after school for events. We also help to sponsor some kids (on a need be basis) who do not have the means to pay for music fees, music instruments, or to participate in events. These are just some of our expenses! It adds up!
The music fees we collect per student cover just a portion of all the expenses!
The Music booster also provides Ms. Jones with volunteers to organize help out during performances and events- decorating, purchasing and selling snacks, feeding the kids when they have to stay after school, chaperoning field trips and events like our Halloween dance. We also help with social media posts and all money transactions are handled by the Booster.
Finally, the booster helps to make decisions about the music program and how to best allocate our funds to make sure every classes’ needs are being met and the money we raise is utilized the best way possible. On a monthly basis, most of the booster involvement consists of this kind of logistical planning and brainstorming.
It is so important to have everyone’s support and to have enough help to make sure the basic needs of the program and the kids are being met. We are all busy parents, but any time you can make to help out would be great and beneficial to all our kids as they go through this musical journey. Please join us and get involved in any way that you can!
We really encourage you to attend some of our monthly meeting to see if this is something you can be a part of.
We are looking for more general members without official titles this year and we will be in need of people to fill board positions at the end of the year. The current board are all 8th grade parents and we would love to start training some new parents to take over. The commitment is not too much but the value of your help is immense.
The music program could not be what it is without the support and help of the Music Booster!
If you are interested in being a part of the Music Booster Club in any capacity or would like to know more about it, please feel free to email us at HOMSmusicbooster@gmail.com and we will be happy to get in touch with you.
Please follow us on Facebook: HOM Music Booster and Instagram : HOMMUSICBOOSTER for upcoming event information and for pictures and videos of events. Also make sure you check out our website for important information : https://www.hommusicbooster.org/
We look forward to working together to give the kids a wonderful year and to support our wonderful music program!
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SAMANTHA JONES - MUSIC DIRECTOR
Samantha Jones, originally from Haleiwa, Hawaii, completed her undergraduate degree in 2015 at the University of Colorado at Boulder with a degree in Music Education with an emphasis in Instrumental Music--Band. She then earned her Master of Music Education at Boston University in 2020. Previously, she attended Kahuku High and Intermediate School and performed as first-chair flute player in the concert band while also participating in the marching band. She held various leadership positions including drum major, band president, flute section leader, and saxophone section leader. In 2009 and 2011 she was a soloist in the Oahu Band Directors Association Select Band on saxophone. During this time, she also performed in the Koolauloa Community Wind Orchestra and performed in a saxophone quartet at senior recitals at Brigham Young University. While at CU, Jones performed with the Concert Band, Symphonic Band, the Golden Buffalo Marching Band, and in saxophone quartets. She studied saxophone with Tom Meyer. Jones was on the Dean’s List for the duration of her time at CU, graduated with high honors, and was named the College of Music’s Outstanding Graduate. She also completed her Master’s degree with a 3.96 GPA.
Jones returned to Hawaii to teach, first teaching K-6 general music at Sunset Beach Elementary School and then returning to her alma mater Kahuku High and Intermediate as Director of Bands, teaching students in grades 7-12 in beginning band, intermediate band, symphonic band, and now wind ensemble. During her time at Kahuku she has grown the program by 40%, allowing for the high school band to split into two ability-based bands. While at Kahuku, she also directed the pep band and started a jazz band and a chamber ensemble program. During the 2020-2021 school year, Jones pioneered a peer-mentorship program based on her master’s capstone project. In this program, all seventh and eighth grade students were mentored by a high school student. This research-backed program helped students to remain musically engaged and to form connections during the pandemic and also had a tangible impact on both mentor and mentee achievement. To read more about this program, please click here.
While teaching at Kahuku, Jones performed in the North Shore Symphonic Wind Orchestra (clarinet) and the Hawaii Symphonic Band (saxophone). Jones is also committed to serving her professional community, and does so as the Secretary of the Oahu Band Directors Association and the Department Head of the Performing Arts World Languages Department at Kahuku. She cares deeply about her students as more than just musicians and will always make time for them to have someone to talk to if they need it. She is passionate about helping her students be successful as musicians and in life. Therefore, she is dedicated to improving herself as a teacher and constantly reflects on how she can better support student success. In order to get new ideas, she regularly attends the Midwest Clinic and other local professional development events and is a member of the National Association for Music Educators, the Florida Music Educators Association, the Florida Bandmasters Association, the Florida Orchestra Association, and the Florida Vocal Association. She looks forward to this new adventure of teaching the incredible students of Highland Oaks Middle School!