My son isn’t really a joiner. However, peer influence is a biggie with him and so if someone he admires is doing extracurricular activities, his interest jumps.
I have sung on and off in various amateur choirs. I love to sing. I was also in my elementary school choir and we competed in national contests which was very exciting. Needless to say, when I found out that he could join his school choir in Grade 3, I ‘encouraged’ him. He joined more because his FRIENDS were in it already…but I was happy.
We saw his debut at Christmas…..and then last week we saw his school choir sing along with a few other East Side schools in the VSB Elementary School Choir Festival at John Oliver High School.
His school seems to have youngest grades in it…which is nice and their teacher really challenges them with songs in French as well as regular English ones.
Now I have been accused of being a tad negative with teachers….and sure…I have been frustrated over the years….but most of my frustration these days is the same as the teachers and that is with the School Board and the difficulties they have caused parents and teachers with the new school year schedule and all the cuts.
The teachers are working under less than stellar conditions and so the fact that ANY of these Eastside schools have decent choirs is amazing. All these teachers do this on their own time.
Our choir practices twice a week on lunch hours….others before and after school. This shows the dedication of the teachers and their energy and enthusiasm obviously rubs off on the kids who are willing to give up their ‘free’ time for the choir.
All the choirs were good. They all sounded beautiful……a testament to the teachers skill and the kids dedication.
I hope my son continues to enjoy the choir. I hope the teacher continue to be as dedicated as they are through very difficult times. The battle for our education system goes on and must be addressed …..for the kids and the teachers.
I hope one day to enjoy the choir as a family. Tara is unfortunately, not one to SIT and enjoy ANYTHING. We had to take turns taking her out for a walk until we just gave up and Patrick headed home with her.
Sigh.
Amber says
I so feel you on being able to attend events as a family. My own toddler is still not good for more than 7 minutes, tops. One day, though – one day.