Monday, May 17, 2010

Encore!


Encore means that the music was so good the crowd wanted more! The theme of our Awards Concert was Encore because we sang great songs from past decades that deserved another singing. It is also how my heart feels about launching this senior class. (I almost wrote "losing" there, but decided against it. Yes, I'll be losing them as members of my high school vocal class. But it is time for them to move on. They are being launched into the bigger world to use their God-given abilities and the lessons I and others have taught them. So I'll stick with launch instead of lose.) Anyway- back to Encore.

I wanted it to go on and on. I didn't want the concert to end. Some of my students felt the same way. On their Moodle assignment, they were asked to write about something that they could have changed about the concert and several of them said that it was over too soon!

Encore. The music and the personalities of this special class will live on in my heart for a very long time. Bailey- you didn't want to let anyone know how much you were enjoying yourself! Kelsey- always giving me 100% even when you didn't feel like it! Tiffany- you are a better singer than you think you are! Paige- what a great dance teacher who created choreography for dancers and non-dancers alike! McKinze- great ideas, sense of humor, and fantastic with the computer! Cassidy- Born entertainer!

Thanks, girls. This was definitely an ENCORE year.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Loving my granddaughter and my job.......


Natalie Renee was born on April 30, 2010. She is the long awaited answer to prayer by her parents and aunts and uncles and grandparents who grieved her big brother Isaac's stillbirth last January. Which brings me to the reason for this blog entry. I am blessed in many ways- one of those ways is the students I get to teach. I was reminded of this on Natalie's birth day when my phone was receiving texts from my students asking for updates and offering prayer. How special! How special to have the opportunity to invest not only my musical leadership, but my life in students for 6 years so that when they graduate they feel like one of my own. These kids become a part of my life as surely as I become part of theirs. What a privilege.