Picnic in the Park

The Fletcher Chorus Family Picnic was held today at Jarboe Park in Neptune Beach.  The weather could not have been any better for some good, old-fashioned fun in the sun.  We ate, played games, shared conversation with one another and just enjoyed being in the great outdoors!  It was nice for me to get to meet some of the parents who have entrusted their children to me and to spend time with my students outside of our classroom.

Thanks to all who made this event possible today....the FHS Choral Booster Board who bought the food and prepared it for us, the Chorus Student Officers who organized the games and coordinated the event and the City Council of Neptune Beach for allowing us to use the facilities at the park.  

Tom Altice - Grill-Master

Time to Eat!

Dining al fresco

Duck, Duck, Goose

Girl Power!

Until next time...

Fletcher Fall Choral Concert 2013

As the weather begins to change and football fervor is in full swing, fall concert season is upon me.

On Tuesday, October 15th, the Fletcher Senior High School Chorus will take the stage for its first concert of the year.  I can hardly believe it! In just a few days, 104 chorus students will don concert attire and present a concert that has been seven weeks in the making.  The purpose of this concert is to get the students dressed in concert uniform and up on the stage singing.  For many of these students, this will be their first public performance.

Since the school year started, I have discovered that running a choral program is like running a small business.  Its success (or failure) lies in the hands of its leadership.  I am blessed to have a Choral Booster Board of hard-working and dedicated parents who donate time and talent to help our program succeed. They have been instrumental in helping me transition to my new position and I am forever grateful for their support.  My student officers have worked hard behind the scenes also. They have offered words of encouragement when I was feeling completely overwhelmed by my "to do" list, held leadership meetings, designed chorus t-shirts, created spreadsheets, stamped music, cataloged our music library, organized a family picnic - you name it, they've done it! They are an awesome bunch of kids and I am so pleased to have the honor of working with them this year.

As I reflect on what has been accomplished since school began on August 19th, I have auditioned singers to sing the "Star Spangled Banner" at our home football games, submitted an audition DVD to Walt Disney World for the Candlelight Processional in December, volunteered at a 5K to raise money for our program, escorted nine students to All-State auditions, fitted students in concert uniforms, rehearsed with instrumentalists, worked with an accompanist, completed one fundraiser and am in the midst of another, handled publicity for our concert and am in the process of writing program notes and technical notes for our concert....and all of this in just six weeks! Reflection is a good thing.  It helps put everything in perspective.

As you can see from the photo above, the Fletcher High School Fall Chorus Concert is Tuesday, October 15th at 7:00 p.m. in the school auditorium.  Tickets are $5.00 each.

I look forward to an evening of music-making with YOU in the audience!

Until next time...

Dawn Patrol

In my household, "dawn patrol" translates into an early morning surfing excursion with my youngest child.  I usually sit on the beach and watch the sunrise while he surfs.  He says that the best waves always happen in the morning!

Today, "dawn patrol" took on a very different meaning.  Sixteen chorus students and three parents crawled out of bed to volunteer at a 5K on the beach this morning.  As the chorus sponsor, I had to be at the Seawalk Pavillion at 5:45 a.m. to greet my students.  I had been up since 3:30 a.m. working on school work and doing laundry.  (I figured I might as well get some work done while the house was quiet.  I do my best work before sunrise.)  

Preparing for the Zoomarun

Working the registration table

My "security team" got to wear official t-shirts

On-site registration and trouble-shooters extraordinaire!

I would like to publicly commend my students for their efforts today.  Although many were sleep-deprived, they showed up and kept their commitment.  The race ran without incident and they played a huge part in making it a great experience for all.  They did such a fine job, the race coordinator asked if we would do it again in January.  I could not have been more pleased.  They are truly the "Pride of the Beaches!"

Until next time...

So this is High School...

You may be wondering how I am adjusting to my new teaching position at the high school level.  I can honestly say that this has been one of THE most difficult transitional periods of my entire life.....

In the past three weeks, I started a new job.  My husband started a new job.  My eldest child headed off to college.  My youngest son started high school AND my 90-year old father-in-law moved in with us.  Can we say STRESS?????????

I have come to the conclusion that being a chorus teacher at the high school level is like running a small business.  Most of your time is spent doing administrative tasks - organizing fundraisers, meeting with the booster organization, behind-the-scenes preparation for the Disney Candlelight Processional audition, receipting money, attending meetings of the Florida Vocal Association, making photocopies, creating "month-at-a-glance" calendars for 103 students, fitting concert uniforms, meeting with student officers, planning fall picnics.....and on.....and on....and on.

It has been quite an adjustment for me.  It is probably a good thing that I am neurotically organized and extremely linear.  I'm always thinking about things that are looming on the horizon.  That makes it difficult to "live in the moment" on most days.  With 222 students in your care, there is not much time for anything else.

I have greatly enjoyed a 3-day weekend.  I allowed myself to sit by the pool for four hours on Saturday and swim in the ocean for several hours today.  My work is done for the night and I must retire.  My clock will awaken me at 5:00 a.m. tomorrow and I will begin the process all over again.  Welcome to my world!

Until next time...

Going the Extra Mile

Today is DAY 3 of pre-planning.  I walked up to the front office for just a moment and upon my return, walked into one of the most beautiful teaching moments I have ever witnessed.  Two band students were in the chorus room working together as one.  It was the most amazing thing I have ever seen.  These were my thoughts as it was happening...

I am in my office while a blind clarinet player is working with his mentor in the chorus room.  He is in our marching band.  She records his part for him and he learns it by ear.  He cannot see the music, but he can hear it.

She is trying to help him learn the marching portion of the show by placing a flip-flop between his legs so he can march "corps style."  It is an awesome thing to watch.  There is a metronome beating audibly.  She sings while he plays so he knows where he is in the music and what foot he should be on at any given time.  I can't wait to go to the first football game to watch him perform.

It reminds me of Patrick Henry Hughes at the University of Louisville.  If you don't know Patrick's story, click on the link below and grab a box of tissues.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xwCG0Ey2Mg

Until next time...

Choral Panorama 2013

I have just returned from a 2.5 day whirlwind trip to Choral Panorama and the Florida Vocal Association's Summer Conference (affectionately dubbed "pre-school").  The first half of this conference is sponsored by Head's House of Music (Tampa, FL) which has been hosting this event for 43 years.  Head's is a family-owned and operated music retailer who specializes in vocal music (as opposed to band/orchestra music).

Panorama is basically a choral educator's reading session "on steroids."  I attended all TEN reading sessions which covered all genres of vocal music for both middle and high school choirs. This means that in the past few days, I have read through 127 pieces of music from 14 different publishers. 38,100 pieces of music were collated and stuffed into 2700 teacher packets which were used during the sessions.  I sat and read through music for approximately SIXTEEN hours from 9:00 a.m. on Thursday to noon on Saturday! My brain is absolutely fried.  My voice held up fairly well, for which I was extremely grateful.  I am also very grateful for 127 reading copies of newly published music from which I can build my choral library.  Heads House of Music hosts this free event each summer and sends us home with bags of free music.  We love Heads!!

Late night session with Dr. David Childs from New Zealand

Our clinicians this year included Laura Farnell, Mary Goetze, Mac Huff and David Childs.  Dr. Jeffery Redding shared his insights as a choral educator in a fabulous interest session Thursday night.  He was awesome and is someone I could only hope to emulate in my classroom at some point in my career.

At noon on Friday, the Florida Vocal Association began their portion of the conference with interest sessions on the All-State audition process, the "End of Course" exam project for "hard to assess" content areas (Race-to-the-Top) and, yes, more music reading - middle and high school All-State music for the FMEA conference in January, 2014.

Did I mention that it was a whirlwind of a weekend? I do believe that my summer break has come to a crashing halt.  If you're looking for me next week, you will find me in the chorus room at Fletcher doing my best to be ready for students on August 19th.

Until next time...

Cleaning My Classroom

Anyone who knows me knows that I have respiratory issues and cannot survive long around dust and dust mites.  My former classroom was spit-spot.  I "swiffered" and vacuumed everything in my classroom several times a year.  I tackled dust like it was my worst enemy.  You could have eaten off of my floors!

When I walked into my new classroom several weeks ago, an invisible hand grabbed me by the throat and I knew I had entered a space that was occupied by high concentrations of dust.  It was unbearable and I began to hack and cough.  My throat closed off and I knew I was in trouble.  Upon further inspection, I realized that the room had not been adequately cleaned or dusted in at least a decade.  I also knew that I would need reinforcements.  There was no way I would be able to tackle this project alone.  Thank God for my family who was willing to put their own health at risk to assist me.  I owe each of you a huge debt of gratitude.

Last week, my sister (who is on vacation from New York, my husband and I) armed ourselves with Zyrtec, masks and cleaning supplies to enter the "Dust Mite Zone."  We worked in there for four hours.  I paid the ultimate sacrifice and am still sick because of it.  That was "Operation Deep Clean - Phase 1."

Denise scrubbing away in my office

Steve vacuuming the carpet on the walls

This is me, knowing I would pay dearly for this later

"Operation Deep Clean - Phase 2" happened yesterday.  My sister returned for Round 2 along with my son (we needed his brawn to move furniture and filing cabinets).  We spent two more hours in the "Dust Mite Zone" trying to finish what we started last week.

This was the room before we began.

That gray stuff on the walls is not the light reflecting on the carpet.

IT IS DUST!!

Every photo collage on the wall was removed and wiped down.  Every chair was wiped down.  Risers were swept and mopped.  Filing cabinets were moved and wiped down.  Equipment was rearranged and wiped down.  Furniture was moved and wiped down.  My office was vacuumed and baseboards were wiped down.  Never had I seen so much dust in one room before.

It is hard to believe, but there are still areas that need to be wiped down in this classroom.  However, Phase 3 will have to wait...  My respiratory system needs time to recover from Phase 1 and 2.  

Until next time...