This past Tuesday, I was privileged to take both my High School Choir and Middle School Choir to the Tobin Center in downtown San Antonio to hear the San Antonio Symphony perform Romeo and Juliet by Sergei Prokofiev. An actor also came out and portrayed the narrator, Romeo, Juliet, the Friar and a few other characters. He made it quite funny, entertaining and relevant to the present. We had great seats in the Orchestra Floor Section and we were surrounded by many elementary students. I believe we were the only secondary group in the auditorium. I reserved these free tickets in September when my Middle School Principal gave me the Okay to take them.
Kenedy Students really had a great time and enjoyed the concert. Afterwards, we went to the River Center Mall to have lunch and to give our students a chance to hang out with each other and shop. I had originally planned to take them across the street to tour the Alamo, but when we drove by, the lines outside the Alamo were the longest I have ever seen, so we stayed at the mall.
When going on any field trip, I make sure students are aware of the etiquette, what is expected of them, and the importance of staying with your group. I am proud of our students; they represented Kenedy with class. While others in the audience did not seem to know how to act in a concert nor when it is appropriate to clap, Kenedy Choir did not disappoint. When you expect the best of students, that is what you will get. Some of these students have never experienced a symphonic concert but now they have.
When I get down and feel like my choir program is growing too slow, I think about these field trips, the motivational speeches of not giving up, the "Hi Mrs. Weaver!" across the room or hallways, the fun games we play in choir when half the group is gone because of illnesses and I realize that it may not be a group ready for contest, but their lives are being invested in.
After the concert was over and waiting for our School to be dismissed.
