We had two good assemblies in a rural school in western NJ this morning. 350 kids, K – 8th grades. These are wonderful schools that span the full spectrum of ages and often are quite friendly because of the community nature of a school that has kids attending for such a long time. Brothers, sisters in one school.
Both shows went really well. Kids up and dancing at the end… One PTA mom came up in between shows and said that the middle schools kids had opted for a school dance for the first time in years and she was tickled that the older kids got up and danced – girls with girls and boys as a row. Movement anyway you can get it at this age….
A primary school teacher came up and said hello, saying he knew me from Bethlehem and Godfreys a long time ago. Amazing how far back these connections go.
As we packed up, one teacher said that three kids have put together a band and wanted to play for us. I initially said no, thinking they might be in the way as we packed up on stage. But they pulled out acoustic guitars in front of the stage and played two tunes for us. It was nice – two boys and a girl and they did fine. The kids had sacrificed recess to get together to play and it was obvious that the time was well spent. We were supportive with some good comments to them and it was nice to leave knowing that those kids will remember playing in front of professionals when they were in fifth grade. Cool.