We Have the BEST Music Teacher EVER...

at our Elementary School. NO KIDDING... I'm NOT exaggerating.

Sorry this picture is so dark... I was in the very back of the auditorium.... Megan is dead center looking to her left...

My first experience with this teacher (who will be referred to as Mr. L) was over 3 years ago when we first moved here. Taylor was in 4th grade and the 4th graders spend their year learning the Recorder to help prepare them for Band in the 5th grade. At the end of the year, they have a Recorder Concert to preform for all the parents. I was not accustomed to AZ heat yet, very pregnant and all I could think was, BORING.... was I ever wrong! Mr. L had only taught those kids 3 songs, but in 30 minutes time, I've never been so well entertained by 60 kids playing recorder and Mr. L accompanying them on the piano. He's truly gifted and loves what he does more than the average teacher.

Now fast forward to this week. Every year our school gets a grant for the Artist in Residence Program. It's a program that brings a local artist in to work with the kids and teach them about different cultures around the world. Every year it's something different... this year we had "Mr. J" who taught the kids about West African music and culture. He spent a month coming to the school and visitng each class, teaching them some music and doing a craft with them. The sixth graders got the most attention, as he taught them a few dances and a song or two on the drums. They preformed Thursday night, and once again, I was thinking... this is going to be so boring, but I'll go because Megan is so excited about it. (But seriously, I was truly debating seeing if I could weasel our way out of going....) I'm glad I didn't.

After the kids had preformed all their songs/dances, this guy came out. Talk about shock in the audience.... this guy was on stilts that had to be at least 10 feet high. He spent the next 15-20 minutes dancing around on the stilts and having fun with the crowd, kids and teachers.

It was AMAZING! I had a video to upload, but Blogger is being "difficult" about it. Just trust me... you would have been wowed!

After the show, we found out that our beloved music teacher, Mr. L, writes all the grants that helps our school get this fantastic program each year, and this year, we get it twice (once in the fall and once in the spring.) When the evening was over, he got a standing ovation from the parents for all his dedication and hard work. It was well deserved and I can't wait to see what he's going to cook up for the spring!