It’s Friday night. We made it!
Monday: New Student/Parent Orientation.
I hung around the school getting ready for the week. Marit Swanson had arrived from Wheaton the day before, so I was showing her around. She is here to teach strings with me, and I am incredibly thankful she’s here!!!
Tuesday: Opening Ceremonies.
This is the day we kick off the school year. To start the day, however, I woke up at 5:45am and took my little brother David to the airport. The last remnant of family was gone!
Then I arrived at school at 8:15am to drop off ice cream for later and to help the seniors get in line with their flags. Every year, the seniors each carry one of the flags representing the countries the students are “from” – by passport, birth, or lived there at one time. As a senior class sponsor, I was a part of that process this year. Fellow sponsor Andrea Field and I collected the flags on the stage as they walked across.
She had wanted the American flag since elementary school
Korean boys
Excitement/nervousness for the entry into Seniorhood
Slovenian. And proud of it.
After the ceremony, I hunted down the keys to the middle school car while the high school students said goodbye to their parents (it reminded me of my tearful goodbye earlier that morning – I got choked up just watching them). The middle and elementary school students went to their respective campuses in Sitzenkirch and Wollbach. Read this blog post to find out about some of the moving process involved in changing campuses this summer!
Then the high schoolers had a meeting. Partway through this meeting, the head sponsor of the senior class began to feel sick due to the heat. I was called to the nurse’s office and got instructions on leading the senior class meeting that was to occur in 20 minutes.
So 20 minutes later, I led the Senior Class meeting. Actually, I delegated several different announcements, so it wasn’t a huge deal. My last announcement was pretty exciting, though. “Your sponsors love you sooo much, we got you ice cream!” The students cheered.
Then I ran upstairs and ate a quick lunch. Marit and I drove over to the middle school in Sitzenkirch (it’s awfully hard to get into reverse in the VW Golf…) with only minimal problems (I’m not sure whether or not I was speeding, since the spedometer didn’t work).
Ruth explains the student handbook and introduces extra-curricular activities
I was in charge of explaining all the musical activities, including Seussical the Musical, available to the middle school students. Unlike the high school extra-curricular time, there was no way for students to sign up for auditions immediately following the explanations. Marit and I left the sign-ups and information sheets in hopes that later in the day when they signed up, they would remember what to do. With a bit of guidance from their hard-working homeroom teachers, most of them managed to get their names on the right papers.
My jumbled notes. This is probably how the information appears to a middle school mind.
Upon my return to the high school campus, I had about 20 minutes to just sit and breathe. Then it was up and off to the races again. The high school had a quick run-through of the school schedule. Each class is 7 minutes long with 5 minute passing periods. This gives the students a chance to find their classrooms and meet their teachers. So I met my guitar students and found out why they want to take guitar (fun class, want to play for their friends, want to play worship music, etc.). Then a quarter of an hour later I met my orchestra class and found out what they did this summer (several beaches were involved – in Israel and Korea).
Then at the end of the day, we had auditions. Only a couple kids showed up for that one, so around 5:15 I finally left the school.
Emily saw me walking out of the school and said, “You look half alive. I’ll make you dinner.”
Thank you, Emily! The blueberry pancakes were great.
Wednesday: First Day of Classes.
In Guitar class, we had a short discussion on what it means to worship. I’m thankful I have this class 1st period – we get to do devotions each morning, and what a great class!
High School Orchestra was exciting – I have 2 cellists and 5 violinists in the class! It’s the biggest class in the school day I’ve had yet!
After school we had lots of auditions. Some were for pit orchestra, others were new students for lessons, and others were hoping to join an intermediate band or orchestra. I’m excited about how the pit orchestra is shaping up! Seussical will have a big supporting sound from the pit!
Thursday: A Normal Day.
Guitar, orchestra, and auditions. Same as yesterday.
Friday: First Weekend Starts.
After school today, we had Chillen & Grillen time at the high school. The kids played sweaty games in the gym, then game show / youth group type activities in the auditorium, then ate hot dogs and hamburgers. It’s a way for students to mingle. I also tracked down a few last violinists and ascertained their situation with regards to orchestras (aka I twisted their arms and told them they would never play an instrument again unless they joined…. just kidding!).
And now I’m going to lie down and watch a movie.
