“So often you find that the students you’re trying to inspire are the ones that end up inspiring you.”
– Sean Jenkins
Over the summer, the main administration office will have some improvements done. In preparation for that work, I cleaned out my office and moved to a temporary office space. While cleaning out my office, I took some time to look through some old AAS yearbooks. I learned that they used to be called The Yearly Howl; it was fun to look through some of our history.
Yesterday, I had the pleasure of hanging out with some 5th graders and signing yearbooks. As we signed Yearly Howls, we talked about how long we have been at AAS and known each other; it was fun to talk about our history. Earlier this week, I enjoyed the Grade 5 and Grade 8 Moving Up Ceremonies. There are so many celebrations and times of reflection in the final weeks of the school year that it can make one’s head spin; it can also be a bit overwhelming emotionally. It is a good sign that it is emotional–it means that we have made strong connections with each other and had wonderful experiences together.
Music plays an important role in times of transition and helps us share our powerful emotions. This spring it seems to have played an especially important and fun role. You may have heard of the staff lip syncs/lip dubs at the High School Graduation rehearsal and the Grade 5 Moving Up Ceremony (as well as the ES end of year assembly). And of course we have the AAS school song that everyone enjoys at the whole school end of year assembly.
For High School Graduation, and each of the Moving Up Ceremonies, the classes chose a song to represent the celebration and this time in their lives. It got me thinking about which songs represent different people’s school transitions and summers off. I brought this up at dinner last night, and my ever so thoughtful daughter said that my high school graduation was probably done to Beethoven as that was when he was a new popular musician. Sweet Child O; Mine, by Guns N’ Roses was actually the summer theme song when I graduated.
I have shared in previous Weekly Howls how much enjoying music is a part of my life. As I sit here thinking about music, I think back to all of the times during the school year when we share the musical experiences of our students (and the Edumacators). It is inspiring to see all these people on stage making music. (Of course there are many other inspiring things our students do everyday as well).
As we head into summer, I wish you the best for a wonderful time relaxing and having fun, with family and friends. And if there is some music playing in the background, all the better.
“Music can change the world”
– Ludwig van Beethoven