Fine Arts Night 2014

We celebrated J and his fellow fourth graders at the grade-level fine arts evening this week. As a parent I have developed admiration for the each of J's teachers, but as a fellow member of their faculty I have such deep respect for their efforts. In particular I am inspired by how they deal with the unique personalities within their classrooms--J has the privilege of learning how to do the same. We wandered the hallways and the library spotting J's handiwork in each corner, on bookshelves, on laptop computers, on tables and on the walls. A relief map. An iPad self-portrait. Multiple models of Jamestown and native villages. A slideshow highlighting Australia as a tourist destination.

 His music teacher Mrs. A has an unique rapport with her students and coordinates their voices and rhythm into the most wonderful musical performances. In one number J played two base boxes. ("F, G, F F, F, G, F, F", I heard him practicing as he walked down the street the other day.) They sang a beautiful rendition of "How Can I Keep from Singing." 

In the most memorable moment of the concert, after the person handing out recorders concluded that his recorder wasn't in the designated bag, he feigned playing an invisible recorder until Mrs. A located the missing recorder and slipped it to him mid-song. They both handled it so coolly and calmly without making a big deal about it.

J loves it when we celebrate him, so a post-concert trip to DQ seemed like an appropriate celebration. I couldn't help but wonder how many more years he'll want us involved in these things and how many years until he just wants to go out with his friends. This question and others will soon be answered, but until then I'll revel in the big-ness and little-ness of his ten year-old self.