End-Of-School-Year Blogapalooza, Pt. 2: A Little Song, A Little Dance, And All That Jazz

Our family didn't just dance their way to the end of school; it participated in a lot of other performances, too. MORE VIDEOS AHEAD; BRACE YOURSELVES!!

There were several musical productions at our kids' school in the late spring...and I'm not just talking about The Wizard of Oz. There was also a fifth-grade class "info-musical" on the Old West, the end-of-year choral music recital for all the kids, and finally, an end-of-year jazz band concert.

There are two fifth-grade classrooms at our charter school, and this year the teachers decided to try something a little different; they bought a script for a musical assembly program about the western expansion of the United States in the 1800s. There wasn't a lot of acting, per se...the students mostly stood around and read lines from a script. However, the script/narration was frequently interrupted for songs and the occasional dance number.

Plus, all the kids got to dress up in their most authentic Old West costumes! Here's what Lorelai chose to wear...

Her role? "Black (African-American) Cowboy." I'm not sure she was physically right for the part, but hey...the part was up for grabs when her teacher was giving out parts, and she volunteered.

She only had a few lines, but she delivered them well. She also did well enough in the square-dancing scenes.

However, she was pretty miserable the whole time...it was a pretty hot day, she was wearing all black, and the sun was shining right on her (and her classmates) for most of the show.

Still, it was a pretty good show, all things considered. I sure hope that the multi-purpose room the school is building will be done by next spring, so this assembly (and others like it) can be held inside on hot spring days!

But that wasn't the last musical presentation of the year at Great Expectations Academy...there was one more big assembly featuring all the elementary-school students. It was the big music assembly, in which each class sang a few songs for their parents and the rest of the school.

Before the singing started, there was a short instrumental interlude featuring all the recorder players in the school...that usually means third grade and up. Yikes, that is a lot of recorders. One recorder by itself is agitating enough; dozens of recorders (many out of tune) playing simultaneously is tortuous. The air is filled with a shrill, unpleasant miasma, and my teeth are set on edge. It sounds as if a bunch of sea birds captured, put into a large bag, and then rolled around on the ground by a bunch of raucous children. I can't be the only one who feels this way, can I?

Ah, well. At least my oldest daughter was able to distinguish herself from the recorder "pack." One of the songs performed was a Star Wars medley, and Lorelai was one of the soloists. Take a listen!

I suspect her experience in jazz band this year has made her a lot more confident in learning the recorder. More on that in a bit.

Anyway, every class chose a different movie or musical from which to learn their songs. Aurora's class did a couple of songs from Peter Pan. The boys were asked to dress up as Peter Pan, the girls were asked to go as Tinkerbell. Here's the costume Aurora came up with:

 

They were all so cute! Unfortunately, I don't have a video of their songs. My camera had been acting up all day, and my recording success was spotty. But at least I got all of them in their adorable costumes! Don't worry, you'll hear more singing from Aurora later.

Celeste's second-grade class got The Jungle Book songs to learn. I bet you can guess which two songs the kids learned!

Lorelai and the rest of her fifth-grade class performed a couple of songs from the movie/musical Hairspray (a musical I haven't seen, sadly! Gotta fix that sometime soon). They were instructed to dress in "50s-style clothing." We don't have a ton of period costumes laying around the house, but we did manage to put this look together:

 

I had a lot of fun doing her hair this morning! Lorelai had a very small solo role in one of these songs as well. I'm happy she is getting a little bolder about performing vocally.

Another area in which Lorelai's confidence is growing is in jazz band. When the year began, she was a little afraid to be part of the advanced band; she felt out of place and undeserving. But her fellow band-mates and her great director, Mr. Mark, inspired her to work hard and improve her performance steadily throughout the year. She blossomed socially in band, and her musical abilities deepened. I was so proud of her progress this year!

Lorelai with Mr. Mark

The final jazz band concert of the year was held the last week of school. It is a bittersweet event, since we always say goodbye to the eighth graders who are "graduating" from GEA and moving on to high school. This year the band performed pretty well and sent them out on a very positive note.

Plus, Lorelai performed two solos! I was only able to get one of them on camera, because my daughter is very coy about telling me when her solos are happening. Oh well. This solo was the first of her two solos; the second solo was a little more technically complicated, and was a bit shakier. Regardless, I was so proud of her for making the attempt.

 This is the second (and third!) time Lorelai has attempted solos in jazz band, and I have enjoyed listening to her progress. She is definitely getting bolder and more confident in her improvisation, and even if she isn't at the level of some of her older band-mates, I still think she has come a long way. I look forward to hearing more of Lorelai and the rest of the jazz band next year!

And just a few days after the jazz band packed up their instruments...school came to an end! For Lorelai and Celeste, it was the end of "yet another year," and thus not too dramatic (despite being a relief to be done!). But for my newly graduated kindergartner, the end of school was given a lot of dramatic weight.

 

 Kinder graduation, in my opinion, is kind of silly and unnecessary. But I can't deny it is really cute watching them walk up and get their "diplomas" from the principal (full disclosure: the "diploma" was a rolled-up empty sheet of paper, that Aurora threw away immediately after school. Ha!). But man, it was crowded in that room; I'm glad that is (probably) the last kindergarten graduation I will attend for a very long time!

Celebratory last-day-of-school lunch at Eegee's

The girls and I were all so ready for summer vacation, but overall everyone had an absolutely wonderful year. All three girls really loved their teachers, learned a lot, and had fun with their extra activities and their friends. I realize not every school year can be this great, but I hope next year will be as rewarding for them...and I hope I can be there every step of the way to help them through any trials they may face, and cheer them on in all their efforts.

Now, since this was primarily a music-themed blog post, here's one more video...a really funny end-of-school/tribute to Queen song, as sung by Aurora and the rest of the darling kindergartners:

That's a wrap on the 2015-16 school year, everybody! Now it's on to blogging about summer break...just in time for my girls' next school year to begin! Yikes...we'll see if I can get caught up soon.