Last Friday my High School played host to Sylvia and Peter. They had traveled from Amsterdam to America earlier in the week, to create more performance opportunities for us – at the United Nations in New York City (18 October) and the World Bank in Washington D.C. (21 October). Mr. Hersh and Mrs. Maniscalco traveled up to the city to pick up Sylvia and Peter at 7:30 a.m.; everyone arrived at the school by 9:15 and Peter immediately jumped into rehearsal with our 11/12th grade choir. I cannot adequately express how I felt – I was overwhelmed with feelings: happiness that our students experienced Peter and Sylvia’s wonderful energy and passion; pride that we are involved in this project; joy that friends and colleagues at school met and experienced the people about whom I have spoken so much over the last few weeks; sadness that Sylvia and Peter could only stay for a few hours before leaving for home. Though I have only known them for a few short weeks, they have had a major impact on my life and I enjoy spending time with them – a few hours simply aren’t enough.
Peter worked with the 11/12th grade choir for almost two hours, working through four of the five movements. His style and working method are so different from what our students experience with anyone of the LVPA staff, but they took to him immediately and their performance just got better and better. We then whisked them off to lunch at our favorite local Italian eatery, then returned to school for a Press Conference. It seemed a great success: two area papers, the local Cable news station, and our local congressman came. Peter and Sylvia spoke (followed by Congressman Dent, myself, Kim, and our Superintendent), followed by a chance to film Peter working with the choir and to watch the dancers perform.
All in all, a fabulous day – but Peter could not stop there; after all of this, he went back in to choir room to do more rehearsing. His enthusiasm and positive energy filled the room; I have never seen our students more excited with any other visitor. They seem to fully understand the importance of what we are doing, which speaks volumes about their maturity and openness and commitment. These are rare qualities to find in people today, let alone teenagers. I write this on 17 September – we have exactly one month to make what is good, great. And I believe we will!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment