Band Volunteers – Acton-Boxborough Friends of Music

Volunteer Roles for the ABRHS Marching Colonials Band

There are various roles for volunteers at AB Marching Band events. The roles include student chaperone, uniform support, snack van driver, snack van helper, truck driver, and truck crew. Volunteers need to be able to comfortably perform the tasks described for the roles signed up for so as to ensure safe and successful events for the students.

Student Chaperone

1. 1. Follow the general chaperone/volunteer rules as well as abide by the ABFOM uniform policy including khaki pants/skirt/ shorts, and ABFOM shirt.
  2. Assist students as necessary to ensure a safe and successful event. This duty may include but are not limited to the following duties:
    a. Positioning and repositioning instruments and equipment prior to and after a performance. This task entails lifting, pulling, and / or pushing instruments and auxiliary equipment and walking unassisted.
    b. For parades and marches up to football fields, assist with covering hazards in the road such as potholes, horse droppings, etc.
    c. Help with uniform support duties.
    d. Aide with snack duties.
  3. For rehearsals:
    
    a. Sit on the field during all rehearsal times to watch for students who might feel unwell and help with paperwork as requested. Call for assistance if needed for medical emergencies. Call boxes are located at the field.
    b. At the end of each rehearsal, pick up items left behind by the students and carry them down to the band room, placing items on the blue box in the band room or in another designated lost & found location.
    c. Make a list of announcements, consisting of reminders such as picking up trash from the field, driving carefully in the parking lots, and checking the lost and found (the blue box in the band room) for missing items. Ask other coordinators of camp (treasurer, uniform committee, etc.) if they have anything to add to the list.
    d. Stay at the field until all students have left the rehearsal field and returned to the high school.
    e. A chaperone or chaperone coordinator must stay until all students have left or been picked up unless directed by the band director / band director is onsite.
  4. For football games, parades, and/or competitions:
    
    a. Assist with pluming and /or depluming of students’ hats.
    b. Walk quickly and unassisted alongside band as directed. Chaperones walking in the front may have to run back and forth between the snack/equipment van during the event. If you are walking in a parade, you also may have to run in the middle of the band to stand next to a road hazard ensuring students march around you and not into the hazard.
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    c. Some chaperones will be assigned to guide drum majors. Chaperones assigned to drum majors guide them around road hazards along side the band which include but are not limited to potholes, drains, spectators, and vehicles.
    d. Assist with escorting students to restrooms or other locations at away events. Chaperones must never be one on one with a student in a closed location. Chaperones must be in a ratio of at least 1:2 with students or at least 2 chaperones with one student.
    e. Assist with care of minor injuries. Call for assistance as needed.
    f. All chaperones except for dedicated snack van driver and helper, ride in the buses with the students, and take counts of the students on buses prior to leaving for an event, transporting in between events or returning from an event.
    g. If assigned as a bus captain, that chaperone is responsible for the following:
    - Monitoring and directing students to be safe and responsible on the bus ride.
      
      Bring bus/first aid bag onto assigned bus.
      
      Ensuring a double count of students on the bus is done.
      
      Asking for notes of students leaving an event early and not returning on the bus.
      
      Organizing exchange of garment bag(s) and instrument(s), if student(s) is/are leaving an event early.
      
      Obtaining attendance sheet from the drum major and verifying that the chaperone count of students is in agreement with the drum major count. Giving the attendance sheet to the band director.
      
      Making note of how many students from each bus are leaving early and calculating the number of students for each bus we should have when we leave. Buses cannot leave an event until all students are accounted for.
      
      When a student is ready to leave an event early, the parent and student must present themselves to the band director or a bus captain. The bus captain must see that the student is with a parent. If a parent of a student is not there when the buses are ready to depart, the buses will not wait for the parent. The student must get on the bus and return back to the high school
  5. Chaperone Coordinators have additional duties as follows
    
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    a. Verify that volunteers are CORI approved. This task entails contacting the high school office and confirming names with personnel.
    b. Creating volunteer sign up lists for band events, including band camp, football games, competitions, and parades using Signup Genus. This requires access to a computer or tablet. The sign-up link is shared with the ABFOM board such that a constant contact email including the sign-up link can be distributed.
    c. Assigning volunteer tasks prior to band events and if needed, reassign duties.
    d. Washing ABFOM T-shirts lent out to volunteers at the end of each event.
    e. Sending out an email prior to each event to all persons who have volunteered with the event details.
    f. Contact the ABFOM President 5-7 days prior to an event if it does not have the desired number of signups so that an email requesting volunteers could be sent out.
    g. Ensure that the first aid bags and bus bags are stocked at the beginning of band camp and refilled as necessary during the season.
    h. Meet with truck rental representatives in July to touch base and reserve trucks for events at the beginning of September. (Note September 1 / Labor Day weekend is a busy rental day for all truck rental companies.)
    i. Coordinate, confirm, and reconfirm truck rentals as needed prior to each event.

Truck Driver

1. Follow the general chaperone/volunteer rules as well as abide by the ABFOM uniform policy including khaki pants/skirt/ shorts, and ABFOM shirt.
2. Pick up a 15 – 26 ft. truck from a designated local truck rental facility prior to an event. Provide driver’s license for rental and obtain truck rental insurance.
3. Drive truck safely to ABRHS to arrive before report time.
4. Assist in loading boards, drum cases, sousaphone cases, other instrument cases, auxiliary equipment, including but not limited to pit equipment, tables and totes onto a truck at the school.

Truck Crew

1. Follow the general chaperone/volunteer rules as well as abide by the ABFOM uniform policy including khaki pants/skirt/ shorts, and ABFOM shirt.
2. Ride in the equipment truck with the driver and abide by state seat belt rules. If additional crew is required, the persons ride on the buses.
3. Load drum cases, sousaphone cases, other instrument cases, auxiliary equipment, including but not limited to pit equipment, tables and totes onto a truck at the school.

Snack Van Driver and Snack Van Helper

For football games, competitions, and parades, the snack van driver and snack van helper:

1. 1. Follow the general chaperone/volunteer rules as well as abide by the ABFOM uniform policy including khaki pants/skirt/ shorts, and ABFOM shirt.
  2. Load and unload tables, liquid filled canisters, crates, ancillary equipment including uniforms, hats, plume bags, instrument cases, and other miscellaneous materials in and out of the snack van. This task entails lifting, pulling, and / or pushing the full canisters, instruments and auxiliary equipment and walking unassisted.
  3. Ensure there are enough drinks, snacks, cups, napkins, wipes, paper towels, trash bags, tarps, and that the vehicle door magnets are taken from the director’s office to the snack van for use during the event. Do not use the magnets while driving to the event; only use them at the event for parking and access to the event.
  4. At the beginning of the game, place a water canister with the band in the bleachers and stock with cups. Remove the canister at half time and return to the van.
  5. Carry the tables and canisters to the designated ‘snack location’ and set up tables and canisters for snack during the half time show such that the snacks are prepared for when the band completes their performance.
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1. Provide guidance to the other chaperones on managing the students during snack time.
2. Fill and refill snack items on the serving tables, retrieving items from the snack van as needed.
3. Fill student and volunteer cups.
4. Lift canisters and empty them as needed
5. Clean tables and snack area. Collect and dispose of trash.
6. Empty snack van and return all tables, left over supplies, and snacks to the Chorus room closet and magnets to the band director’s office.
7. Place empty canisters on the sidewalk for pick up.
8. If during a parade, the back seat or other seats in the vehicle are taken by ill students, the snack van helper will walk next to the vehicle or in front of vehicle as directed. As such, the snack van helper should be able to walk quickly, and unassisted as directed.
9. Snack van driver helps the snack van helper with duties such as filling bottles when the vehicle is not moving.