Questions we get a lot

If your question is not here, email us. If we get asked it twice, it ends up on this page.

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Getting started

What is Sachem BEAT?: A parent-run booster club supporting performing arts students across the Sachem Central School District. Band, chorus, orchestra, and theater, in every building, not just one school.
Is there a membership fee?: Yes. Membership is $25 for the school year, and it covers your whole family rather than each student. A family with three students in the programs pays once.
What does membership include?: To be confirmed. The board needs to decide what membership gets you beyond supporting the programs, and what is open to everyone regardless. Parents will ask this first.
My student just joined a program. What should I do first?: Check the events page for dates that involve their building, and come to a board meeting if you can. Neither is required, and both make the year easier.
Is this the same as the school district?: No. Sachem BEAT is an independent booster club. We are not affiliated with or operated by the district, and we have no role in curriculum, staffing, casting, or chair placement. Those questions belong with your student’s building.

Money

What might the club pay for?: Competition and festival entry fees, travel, instruments and equipment, NYSSMA and SCMEA fees, and building-level requests that come up mid-year. What the club can support in a given year depends on what it raises, so none of it is guaranteed. Every dollar stays with Sachem performing arts students.
We cannot afford a fee. What happens?: Talk to your student’s director. Where funds allow, the club may be able to help, and those conversations stay between you and the director. We would much rather someone asked than had a student sit out.
Are donations tax deductible?: To be confirmed. Answer once 501(c)(3) status is confirmed. Until the determination letter is in hand, this site makes no claim either way.
How do I ask the club to fund something?: To be confirmed. The board needs to define this: who can ask, how, by when, and how decisions get made. Directors and families both need a stated path.

Helping out

How much time does volunteering take?: Most jobs are one shift at one event. Plenty of people help once a season and that is genuinely useful.
I am not musical. Can I still help?: Yes, and most volunteers are not. Concessions, parking, hospitality, counting a cash box, moving equipment, and sewing a costume are all jobs that need people, not musicians.
Can I help if my student is not in the program?: Yes. Grandparents, alumni, and neighbors are all welcome, at the Home Show especially.
When are board meetings?: To be confirmed. Add the meeting schedule to events.json with the "meetings" group and this answer can point at the calendar.

Events

What time does a competition start?: Start times are set by the New York State Field Band Conference and have not been published for the 2026 season yet. They go on the events page as soon as they are.
What does it cost to attend a competition?: Admission is $12 at the gate, and it is the same at every show. That price is set at the state level, not by the host school.
Can I get the schedule on my phone?: Yes. Every calendar on the events page has an "Add to calendar" download, and each event has one of its own.
A date changed. Where do I check?: Your student’s performing arts director is always the authority. This site is a convenience, not the official district calendar.

Still stuck?

A general contact address will be published shortly. We are volunteers with day jobs, so expect a few days rather than a few hours.

Questions about grades, placement, casting, chair auditions, transportation, or staffing belong with your student's building. We have no role in any of those and cannot pass messages along.