TEMPO Benefits
The money TEMPO raises through membership fees, concession stand sales, and The Cavalcade is used to support music programs throughout the district. We have purchased equipment, musical instruments, and supplies that are not covered by district funding. This year TEMPO is subsidizing the cost of the Disney trip by $17,000. TEMPO also pays for the StogaMusic.com website which facilitates communication between faculty, students and parents, and provides the opportunity for online ticketing for the fall drama and spring musical.
TEMPO sends the student leaders of the band (Drum Majors and Color Guard Captains) to leadership camp at West Chester University. TEMPO purchases pizza for the band when it isn’t practical for the students to get home for dinner before a game or event (over $500 each time we do this) and the band members also receive a free drink during their third quarter break at every home football game.
TEMPO provides the awards that all music students receive at the end of the year and we award scholarships each year to about 10 seniors who plan to pursue their interest in music at the college level. We fund several events like the Tri-M reception, Senior Recognition Night, the Music Meet and Greet (lunch with 8th grade students to encourage them to participate in music groups at CHS), Gal Chorale, and Guys Harmonize. We also subsidize the cost of the annual banquet in order to keep the price lower for families.
TEMPO also offers a variety of student fundraising options in order to make the music trips more affordable for the students.
Scholarships and Awards
The Tredyffrin-Easttown Music Parents Organization (TEMPO) offers scholarships and awards to students who have participated in the music program at Conestoga High School and who plan to make music a part of their college experience. To be eligible for a scholarship, a student must plan to major in music, musical theatre, music education, or a related field at university. To be eligible for an award, a student must plan to make music or musical theatre a part of his or her college experience, without majoring in those fields (e.g., an expectation of participating in an a cappella choir, ensembles, musical productions, marching band, etc.). In addition, all recipients must be students in good standing as defined by the Conestoga and/or Tredyffrin-Easttown School District administration. Also, recipients’ families must be TEMPO members.
There are two programs available: the Choral and Instrumental. Awards and scholarships are available for each. To be eligible for the Choral Scholarship or Award, an applicant must have participated in Conestoga’s choral program. To be eligible for the Instrumental Scholarship or Award, an applicant must have participated in a curricular activity such as the orchestra, concert band, or any of the instrumental ensembles. Students who participated in marching band (including Color Guard) are also eligible for an Instrumental Scholarship or Award. While participation in extra-curricular activities such as ‘Stoga Music Theatre, or ‘Stoga Theatre (including cast and crew) are not qualifications in and of themselves for either a Choral or an Instrumental scholarship or award, applicants are encouraged to include participation in them among their discussion of their activities at Conestoga.
The Instrumental Awards are named in honor of Anton F. Kiehner, a long-tenured music director at Conestoga. At his retirement, music alumni, parents, and friends contributed to a fund that is the source of those scholarships and awards. The Choral scholarships and awards are funded by TEMPO.
Additional Benefits
- Price reductions for music trips and the TEMPO banquet
- The opportunity to raise all or most of the cost of the music trips through participation in Tempo fundraisers.