VOLUNTEER
Marching band is a complex operation, and it takes an enormous amount of parent participation to work. We could not function without the hundreds of hours that parents contribute. Does that make you nervous? We hope not. The truth is that the more you jump in, the more fun you’ll have. Band is a fantastic window into your child’s world. Volunteering is a great way to get to know the kids your child’s hanging out with, and their families. It helps make a school as big as West Potomac feel like home.
It’ll take an average of 10 hours of service from every family to keep things going. There are many different ways you can pitch in throughout the year, so it’s easy to find something that will suit you.
Please feel free to contact our Volunteer Coordinator, Rachel Paradise at with any general questions about volunteer opportunities at wphsbandnews@gmail.com.
FUNDRAISING
Open
We have restaurant nights on occasion and try to have two car washes a year, Tag Day (see below) is our biggest fundraiser with its own chairperson, but we also try to raise funds in other ways and are always open/looking for ideas. Car washes are a fun and easy way to raise money and build spirit. The kids do all the work at the car washes, but we always need a handful of parents to take a two-hour shift and supervise, so grab a friend and sign up! Adults handle the money, help manage busy times, or man the grill if we’re serving hot dogs – but honestly the kids mostly know what to do.
CHAPERONES
Open
If you really want to get to know the band kids, then you’re going to love chaperoning! We need parents to chaperone Saturday competitions and sometimes overnight trips. You’ll ride along on the bus, and help out as needed.
CONCERT BAND UNIFORMS
Tracy Shaw and Anne Kisthardt
We need parents to help size students during band camp in the beginning of the school year and to help collect uniforms after the last evening concerts in June. Can work as a team with a co-chair, too. Other parents will pitch in with fittings.
CONCESSIONS STAND
Susan Winckler, Co-Chair/Shadow Open
If you’ve ever bought food at the concessions stand at a varsity or JV West Po football game, you’ve supported the band. That’s because the band boosters run the concessions stand, and the proceeds go to support our program. It’s our biggest fundraiser, and that’s why we need every band family to put in a few two-hour shifts every season. Don’t be worried that you don’t know what to do! When you arrive just tell the person in charge that you’re a newbie and you’ll get an easy job like wrapping pizza slices! Please take a look at your calendar right when school starts and sign up for a few shifts.
DISTRICT BAND/ASSESSMENT
Cheryl Bratten and Grace Kang
Sometimes we host band-related events like District Band auditions. assessments, or Indoor Drumline competitions. That’s great for us because we make money to support the band program at District Band via concessions, plus our kids don’t have to drive far for those events. However, we do need all adult hands on deck to run those events. The jobs are easy – checking kids in, managing parking, working concessions – so when the call comes out to help please do pitch in for a shift.
HOSPITALITY
Chesley Simpson
There are various events throughout the year – like our concerts -- where the band boosters supply food and beverages. We always need parents to help with coordinating the items, set-up, and clean-up.
MARCHING BAND UNIFORMS
Janice Latimer and Megan Gottemoeller
Getting 150 kids into uniforms that fit and aren’t missing anything is a giant task. Helping out is a nice way to get to know all of the kids in band. We need lots of volunteers to help size the kids during band camp, and then more volunteers during games and competitions to help with last-minute issues. Finally, we sometimes need folks to take home muddy uniforms for washing.
PIT CREW
Bob Baxter and Wynn Yarbrough
The Wolverine Band Pit Crew is always a close-knit, dedicated team of volunteers! These able-bodied adults with fantastic special/packing skills are needed to help load, unload, and move the percussion equipment, on carts, to and from the field for marching shows at Friday night home games and Saturday band competitions.
SENIOR RECOGNITION
Virginia Ruiz
We need volunteers to help with the very special task of recognizing our seniors. That may include helping the chairperson create senior buttons, senior bios, and ordering flowers for concerts.
TAG DAY
Cheryl Bratten
Our second-biggest fundraiser is Tag Day when FCPS performing arts students go door-to-door in teams. They drop off a “tag” listing all of their school’s events, and ask the community for financial support for these programs. The entire band participates, and we rely on lots of parental help that day. For more information, look here.