'Tis the Season for Holiday Musicals and More

My life as a music teacher is cram-jammed and filled to capacity during the month of December.  It always has been.  The days are long and the nights are longer.  I walk around in a fog for weeks, waving at myself coming and going.  I've come to understand that my body will be pushed to its limits and my brain extended beyond its capacities in December.  It is simply an occupational hazard with which I must contend.

Before I began teaching seven years ago, I was a church musician.  Need I say more? Christmas Eve and Easter are the two biggest "high feast and holy days" on the church calendar.  We began preparing for Christmas Eve service in September and Easter services in January.  And so it goes with the second and third grade musicals.  Before I am finished with one, I am already "prepping the other."  It's just part of my reality.

This week, my work with 200+ second graders culminated in a grade-level production entitled, "Once on a Housetop."  I have been rehearsing the songs in this musical since August.  It is now mid-December.  Yesterday, I conducted 2 dress rehearsals, 2 musical programs and 2 Recorder Club performances - all in one day! Best part is, I get to do it again tomorrow for the other half of the grade level!



My after-school arts enrichment program also comes to life in December.  The Chets Creek Recorder Club has been rehearsing since September and performed at the Jacksonville International Airport last week as part of their Holiday Fest.  As a service project to our second graders, they perform pre-show music before all four musical productions.  They will also play at the Bennie Furlong Senior Center in Jacksonville Beach on December 15th and at the St. Johns TownCenter Mall (in the courtyard near Cantina Laredo and the Capital Grille) on December 16th.

Chets Creek Recorder Club Pre-Show Performance



As I ease into the Christmas holidays, I am grateful for the opportunity to create lasting memories for these children.  They may not recall what they made on the FCAT twenty years from now, but they will remember being part of a large musical production or a performance group that allowed them to bloom where they were planted.  Cultivating Creativity.  I wouldn't have it any other way.

Until next time...