VolunTeals & Parents

Welcome to the Teal Sound VolunTeal & Parent section.

Hello Volunteals! 

We are hoping that we can put out some good info to you all in the next day or so but need some additional response and assistance from you first. Please click the links below to learn more about:

Schedules | Tour Help Needs | Providing Meals | Visiting Your Child | More for your Money | Staying with the Corps

In this section you will find important information regarding the support staff of the corps and what YOU can do to help and assist in various ways. We have many items that you can assist with at camps and while on the road during the summer. Please take the time to fill out the VolunTeal Questionnaire form, linked on this page. If you have further questions or need to contact us please email Debbie Swift, VolunTeal Coordinator at debbie@tealsound.org .

Once again welcome and we are glad to have your support and help as we move into the Teal Sound's 10th Anniversary season.

To All Parents:

Please utilize the Member's Only section of the website for any information in regards to the corps while on the road. If you do not have access to this section, please contact Debbie Swift at debbie@tealsound.org to receive the username and password. Also, please take the time to download the 2008 Tour Survival Guide for emergency contact numbers and other information about the corps movement and operations while on the  road. If you have any questions at any time, please contact Randy, Brian, Brandon or Debbie by phone or email which can be found in the Survival Guide.

The VolunTeal Crew needs help

The VolunTeal Crew still needs help anywhere between Monday, June 23 through Saturday, July 5... especially on the 3rd and 4th. Also, anytime between Saturday, July 19 through Thursday, July 31. If you have any available time during these two weeks, please contact Debbie Swift ASAP at debbie@tealsound.org.

We would also like to take a moment to thank all of you who have assisted with the season so far.

Hotels in Thomasville for the parents for Spring Training

Schedules

Debbie is putting some finishing touches on the Volunteal Work Schedule and the Teal Tour Meal Menu. A core team of people met and discussed these as well as many other items this past Saturday of the last camp. I think you will all be pleased with the ideas and the processes that the Teal leaders (directors, majors, or managers) have in store. Wow! – What an improvement over past experiences. It is not ‘perfected’ yet BUT with a team that is willing to learn from the past and apply to the future – We can only WIN!

Tour Help Needed

We need Volunteal help the weeks of:

• June 28th – July 5th
• July 25th – August 2nd
• Can you come for a day? 3-5 days…..a full week?

Please email Debbie Swift at debbie@tealsound.org to work out arrangements, flight info or places to meet up, days etc.

Providing Meals

I have heard several people mention that they were planning on providing food for the Corps at this event or that event etc. Maybe, it was just a dessert or snack item or maybe it was a full meal of pizzas, chicken or whatever. This is wonderful! The kids love it! In addition, with the fuel prices getting so wacked, the Corps can benefit as well - if we can plan for your donation or treat by not cooking the items on our preplanned menu, thus saving in spoilage, overages and budgeting. Using a guesstimate, one meal is roughly $100 and that $100 can be put toward the increased fuel expenses!

***** Maybe even partner with your child’s’ other Teal friends or family or HS and go in on a meal for the corps…..I’ll use my daughter as an example – there are four kids total in Teal from her High School. If we all gave $25.00 as parents to the purchasing manager, we would be essentially buying that meal and the kids would know that the meal was graciously donated by the 1,2,3,4 families representing xx school in Tampa, Florida! The savings the Corps would gain in the food budget would be easily (and then some!) absorbed by the fuel costs. The Teal members then know which kids come from where so they can look each other up in the fall during invitational’s and other competitions.*****

Please email me or Debbie Swift with the date, meal, specifics (example – I’ll bring food but VT’s will need to cook it or on July 4th, I am bringing 250 red white and blue cupcakes for lunch) and your phone number so we can put out a schedule for the kids!

Visiting your Child

We’ve also had some questions from parents on how and when you can spend time with your child when visiting a show – especially the friends and family show on June 21st.

***as a general rule – the members are with Teal Sound 100% of the time. Many of you have seen how much free time they have while at the camps. They might have 5 or 10 minutes to visit with you if they didn’t go back for seconds or gave up a shower or some sleep etc.***

The kids are not allowed to leave for a meal or leave their Teal family once they Move – In on June 14th. There is one exception to this rule……..June 21st after they perform for Friends and Family at 8:00 pm and then they perform all their Teal familial responsibilities, they are free to leave/visit with you until Midnight that night. On an added note – there is not much happening in Thomasville to attend anyways.***

A free day on any day of the tour calendar does not mean they are free to ‘leave’ but rather free from their routine schedule that they keep. They must stay with their Teal family throughout free days.

More for your Money

Buying power – More savings to be had. Each Teal member is to bring a minimum of 1 item to Move-Ins on June 14th. (Click here for your child’s designated items [member login required] ). Gary Brown, dad of Mason, trumpet player and BBQ’er extraordinaire, has graciously volunteered to coordinate mass purchasing of these items from a local company, Top Choice. He advised that if we purchase items that the per unit cost would be lower then your retail costs and that the more we purchase from Top Choice, the more discount we will earn off our regular purchases. FYI – we use them for our staples right now. If you are interested in working on this, please respond to this email so I can accumulate them and get with Gary on specifics.

Staying with the Corps

We have been asked about sleeping arrangements when you come in for a weekend. If you are Voluntealing and assisting in the food truck or other capacity for the Corps on both days surrounding a night, you are allowed to pull up some rug or other plot of space in the Corps Volunteal Sleeping quarters. The rooms assigned are generally very cramped and this does not allow everyone to stay if they are not assisting in the support of the corps. If you see your name on the schedule (sent either via my emails or on the website under the Member’s Only section), we are expecting you to be staying with the corps. Any questions please email Cherie Starling or Debbie Swift.