Cleveland HS Bands PLAY-A-THON 2023

Welcome to the Fall 2023 Cleveland Bands Play-a-thon! This is our annual fundraiser to support the award-winning Cleveland High School band program.

***Thank you in advance for supporting our band students! When you make your donation, please add the name of the student you are supporting in the "Show More Support" section. This option appears as the final step after the donation is confirmed, and after the question about sharing this gofundme on social media.***

Our Play-a-thon will be taking place on Friday, September 29th from 4 pm - 10 pm to raise money for the band program. This event is necessary to offset costs for many basic needs of running a high quality program. Recently, our district has begun to support our program for PIL (local league) events, state championship events, and our local Rose Festival parades. Every year, we are receiving more support from the district, and the central office continues to commit to building this support in the implementation of the PPS Master Arts Education Plan.

However, there are still many costs in running a strong program that needs to be addressed in our current school year. This fundraiser helps offset these costs while additionally providing financial support for our students which are outlined below. The Play-a-thon is also a great way to build the band community.

Your donations support these basic needs of running a top-notch high school band program:

Our program is also able to provide support for our students to ensure that financial stresses do not disrupt a student’s ability to excel:

In the past, the money raised has also been used to assist in major purchases:

The typical band fee for a high school band is AT LEAST $100, usually much more. CHS Band Director Mr. Gary Riler and our parent booster group, Friends of Cleveland Bands, feel strongly that students should not have to pay a mandatory fee to participate in band. Instead we ask our community to support the program. We do not want to limit any student's ability to participate due to financial hardship!

The Cleveland High School Band Program has a long tradition of being a quality award-winning Band Program. Some recent accolades include:

(2020) Cleveland HS was honored by the National Federation of High Schools as the Performing Arts School of Excellence

(2020) Cleveland HS Wind Ensemble was invited to perform a Concert Hour at the Oregon Music Educators Association Conference in Eugene, Oregon.

(2022) All-State: Via an audition process 2 students were in the All-State Jazz Ensemble, 1 student was in the All-State Symphony Orchestra, 5 students were in the All-State Wind Ensemble and 5 students were in the All-State Symphonic Band.

(2022) State Chamber Music Contest: 1st Place - Percussion Duet; 2nd Place - Saxophone Quartet; 3rd Place - Brass Quintet; 4th Place - Percussion Duet; and 5th Place - Woodwind Quintet

(2022) The Cleveland HS Wind Ensemble placed 5th at the 2022 OSAA State Band Championships. This was a historic occasion, as no Portland Public School band program has placed in the top 5 at these championships since their inception in 1984.

(2023) Cleveland HS Jazz Ensemble placed 4th at State; Wind Ensemble repeated its 5th place finished at State.

(2023) 24 students represented CHS bands in the All-State honor groups: 2 students placed in the highest Symphony Orchestra, with 12 students in Wind Ensemble and 10 in Symphonic Band

(2023) State Chamber Music Contest: State champions - Woodwind Quintet; 2nd place - Percussion Trio

(2023) State Solo Competition: Bass Clarinet - 3rd; Oboe - 3rd; Bassoon - 4th; Euphonium - 4th; Mallets - 4th; Alto Sax - 5th; Trombone - 5th

HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT THE CLEVELAND BAND PROGRAM?

1. Donate an amount meaningful to you. Any amount helps! We accept employer matches through Benevity (just search for Friends of Cleveland Bands). We also accept employer matches manually, just have your employer send their match to the address below. Our EIN is 842037819.

2. If you are supporting a particular student PLEASE BE SURE TO PUT THE NAME OF THE STUDENT YOU SUPPORT IN THE COMMENT BOX! There are prizes that go to the student for the most money raised, largest number of gifts, and for participating. This also gets the students engaged and participating in their own fundraising success.

3. JOIN US on September 29th! You can attend the concert live at the Cleveland HS Auditorium (the address is below) or you can join us online. Come back to this page or go to our website at clevelandbandspdx.com to get the link to the livestream.

4. Sign up for the Friends of Cleveland Bands Newsletter to stay up to date with the band!

You may also donate by check to:

Friends of Cleveland Bands

Attn: Friends of Cleveland Bands

Cleveland High School

3400 SE 26th Ave

Portland OR 97202

Check donations will receive a letter from FOCB acknowledging the donation and serve as your tax receipt.