Dominoes Revisited

In March, my very wise friend Shae made a comment about dominoes to me, and it has stuck in my mind ever since:

"You have certain moments where you stand up for yourself or make a tough decision and its the first domino."

Since then, the dominoes have fallen steadily and good things have happened. First, there was the offer of a job with ESL Arts Advantage (an offer that gave me so much joy and relief I spent twenty minutes sobbing like a baby). Having this to look forward to spurred me on in my job search, and it felt good to add to my introduction letter to schools that I would be teaching music at a three-week summer "camp" for visiting Chinese students.

Then came Petite School. The job is part-time, but I have been warmly welcomed and today, I had my first day of teaching. The kids are adorable and so "with-it" that I can't wait to dig into music with them and see how far they can go. The students at this school work about a year ahead of grade level.

So today, I had the total joy of watching a new group of primary students learn the race car song. The first grade teacher told me later that his kids couldn't stop talking about it when they got back to his classroom from music.

The third and fourth graders impressed me with their ability to understand sixteenth notes when we did "Soda Rhythms." The first and second graders took a game of Memory with instrument cards very seriously--and cheered each other on when a match was made. It is heartening to see children who are excited by learning, and to work in a school where that excitement is encouraged through challenging them, but also making the activities they do fun and relevant.

As this all comes together, another opportunity from ESL Arts is developing. Our fearless leader of the Fusion International Arts Center wants to offer at least two, but possibly four, kindergarten music classes each week for home school kids. I've been offered these classes, as well as an "international choir" (an opportunity for local kids and exchange students alike to come out and sing a wide variety of music) one evening a week.

The possibilities are growing, and they are exciting. I look back at the last few months, as these opportunities have come into being, and I see a trail of downed dominoes. I'm both curious and excited about where the standing ones will fall next.