What a Wonderful Class

Tonight was Malia’s last choir concert of the school year. She was pretty stressed about his one because she felt like they weren’t ready, but honestly, there was only one part of one song that sounded crunchy. She told me afterwards that the choir teacher brought them in at the wrong time, so it was totally his fault and not theirs. And so, despite the worries, she was pleased that it went as well as it did. The concert was a themed “decades” concert and the choir teacher selected a song from each decade from about the 1940’s up to now. Malia’s choir sang “Africa,” a pop tune that was all the rage when I was a teenager, a medley of the choral music from the movie “Frozen,” and ended with “What a Wonderful World.” It was a fun assortment of songs.

Choir has been one of Malia’s happy places this year. Most of the kids there have been great to be with and she has made some good friends. The choir teacher is funny and good with the kids and just a little bit crazy which is a necessary quality for a middle school choir teacher. WACKY SMILEY Choir is her last class of the day, and it has been a fantastic way to finish her school day. In addition, it is one of those classes that has helped build her self-confidence. She is a bit more outgoing and a bit more willing to let people hear her sing. She isn’t quite as nervous before concerts and for the most part, the performances are fun for her. She isn’t quite so terrified of singing in smaller groups and she and a few of her classmates did well at solo and ensemble festival this spring. Overall, it has been a fantastic experience for her, and she has joyful claimed status as a “choir kid.”

Malia has some worries about how it will be next year because all the 9th graders will be gone, and she doesn’t have great confidence in the current 8th graders, but of course, she won’t really know how it is going to be until she gets there. I certainly hope that it will continue to be one of the joys in her day. And I hope that she will make even more friends as new kids join the choir. I suspect she is going to miss this part of her life a lot over the summer.