Orchestra

The second semester is off to a great start at school. It feels so nice to be back at school and to be with my kids again. Though some of them are still in summer beach mode, the majority of them came back ready to work. I've started new music with the symphonic band and the jazz band that I am very excited about - the music is stuff I ordered in August and it just arrived in February. Got to love Peruvian customs!

The exciting news this week is that I found out I will be teaching high school orchestra next year, in addition to my 2 bands and my 2 IB music classes. The orchestra is currently taught by a Peruvian who also teaches elementary strings. The orchestra is small and he chooses music that isn't appropriate for their size or ability level. The concerts can be a little painful. I had mentioned to my principal that I would be interested in doing the orchestra in the future, if the opportunity ever presented itself, and he followed up on it and made it happen this week. I am so excited! I loved teaching orchestra at West and missed working with string kids in Berlin. I think this group has a lot of potential and I'm looking forward to seeing what we can do together.

I feel like things are really coming together here. I love the classes I am teaching and taking on the orchestra is another really positive step. It is nice to have the support of my principal and to know that changes can be made when they need to be. They keep making this job sweeter and sweeter - I may never want to leave!