A full day of creativity, once you get past the 5 hours on the road, and the 5:30 am alarm. St. Joe’s (or SJY’s) is a K – 6 school with tow classes per grade level. I did my whirl-wind residency with an assembly, half hour sessions with 2nd, 3rd and 4th grades, and more intensive work with the 5th grade. The younger kids did new words to “the Cat Came Back”, and the 5th grade wrote an original tune “SJY is a Very Special Place”. All the classes came up with nice little pieces to “Down by the Bay.” We came together for a final assembly with those songs. On the job, creative juices and all, from 8:30 to 2:30. And the gym was filled with congo lines and delightful mayhem. (I was always in control, of course.)
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The fifth grade knocked it out of the park with their song, and I was proud to hear them take ownership during the rehearsal and the performance. I’ll be recording the tunes and sending them a copy.
It is incredibly cool to be able to energize a whole school, and its a function of the kids, the teachers and what I do best, creating community.
Off to Bethelehem, and an elders’ concert in Old Saybrook Friday afternoon. I’m beat…