Volunteer

The Marching Band season is a complex operation, and it takes an enormous amount of parent participation to work. The program 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 hangs out with, and their families. It helps make a school as big as West Potomac feel like home. 

Please feel free to contact our Volunteer Coordinator, Denise Madar at with any general questions about volunteer opportunities at wphsbandnews@gmail.com.

CHAPERONES

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 during marching band season and for the indoor drumline and winter guard season. You’ll ride on the bus and help out as needed.

BAND UNIFORMS 

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 the spring. We also have parent volunteers on hand to help with uniform emergencies and to place the plumes in the marching band hats before each performance.

CONCESSIONS STAND 

If you’ve ever bought food at the concessions stand at a varsity or JV West Potomac football game, you’ve supported the band. That’s because the band boosters run the main 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 AUDITIONS/CONCERT BAND ASSESSMENT

West Potomac often hosts band-related events like District Band auditions (early December), Concert Band assessments (early March), or Indoor Drumline competitions. That’s great for us because we make money to support the band program 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–registration, managing parking, working concessions, stage crew, and monitoring storage rooms.

HOSPITALITY

There are various events throughout the year where the Boosters supply food and beverages. We always need parents to help with coordinating the items, set-up, and clean-up. These events include parent preview night (August), team dinners before all varsity home games, and hospitality rooms for judges during assessment.

PIT CREW 

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 

We love to celebrate our seniors throughout the year. During Marching Band season the Boosters create senior buttons for senior parents to wear at the Senior Night football game. At the last concert we celebrate our seniors with posters highlighting their accomplishments during their time at West Potomac. At the Spring Banquet we gift all seniors with a momento to remind them of their time in the West Potomac Band program as well as cords to wear on graduation day.

TAG DAY 

Our second-biggest fundraiser is Tag Day when West Potomac performing arts students go door-to-door in teams of four asking for monetary support. The entire band participates, and we rely on lots of parental help that day.