I've given this a lot of thought, and I've concluded that the hardest part of the senior year is the end of activities which have been significant in the life of your student. It's hard for both the student and the parent.
And of course, the year is full of endings. I thought that the end of marching band last fall might kill me (and it nearly did). Then came the end of mock trial, show choir, chamber choir, and wind symphony. I've learned to keep a supply of Kleenex with me at all times.
And now comes the end of jazz band. We were lucky because this year our band's season was more than a month longer than usual, so we had many more opportunities to listen to this exceptional group of kids.
And of course, the year is full of endings. I thought that the end of marching band last fall might kill me (and it nearly did). Then came the end of mock trial, show choir, chamber choir, and wind symphony. I've learned to keep a supply of Kleenex with me at all times.
And now comes the end of jazz band. We were lucky because this year our band's season was more than a month longer than usual, so we had many more opportunities to listen to this exceptional group of kids.
This band has had an incredible year, capped by winning the Iowa Jazz Championships in April. This past week, the kids played at the inaugural Jazz Education Network conference in St. Louis, an international gathering of jazz educators and performers. It was a tremendous honor to be selected to play at this event from the hundreds of high school bands who applied. Several parents traveled with the band for one final performance. The band stacked up quite well against incredibly talented high school and college groups from around the country. We knew our kids were great, but their performance at this conference really confirmed it.
This performance marked the end of the run for our jazz band. It was also the last "ending" of the senior year and for that, I'm thankful.
These endings are tough. I'm ready for some beginnings.
2 comments:
As long as it isn't the end of the blog... you had me worried there with that title!
Ah yes, school endings; went thru that last year with daughter. Then came University and a whole new batch of beginnings.
That's life, no? At least you have your wonderful scrapbooks to keep the memories alive.
Janet, what are you going to do next year? I hadn't even thought of this until you wrote this post. Too bad you weren't blogging when Bailey was 4. I could use all your posts as a guide for what I'm supposed to be doing with Owen!
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