High School Performance

I have been a terrible blogger as of late, but this needed to be said publicly.

Last night, the 9th and 10th grade students at WEDJ had their spring performance, entitled "Buffalo Soldiers" and it was simply amazing! I'm so very proud of their growth this year as performers and young men and women. The students, and the students' teachers have worked so hard and it showed!!

There is an encore performance tonight at 7 PM. There are tickets still available and are $5. So come on by and see how far we have come!

Calendar of Events

I apologize for not being a loyal blogger as of late. But, as this post will show, it seems like there's never an time anymore!

These are my upcoming weekend appearances.

September 28 - 30 - Connecticut

October 6 - Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Washington, DC Area Alumni Association Annual Founders Day Celebration at the Capitol Brewery on Capitol Hill across from Union Station.

October 7 - Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Province 27 Sinfonia Slam at the University of Delaware.

October 13 - CPR Training

October 20 - WEDJ Saturday Program
and
Kelly and Ben's Annual Halloween Party (contact me for details)

October 27 - WEDJ PCS Performance for Grade 1-6 with a Science and Nature theme

November 3 - Class at GW

November 4 - Phi Mu Alpha Washington, DC AAA Meeting in Maryland

November 10 - 12 - Going out of town (not sure where yet)

November 16 - 18 - Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Alumni Retreat

December 1 - Class at GW

December 8 - WEDJ Saturday Program

December 15 - WEDJ PCS Performance for Grades 7-10 themed Theater for Change

And that brings me up until winter break!

Yes, I'm a little busy, but that means life is full!

Paris

I'm flying out tomorrow with my wife for a week in Paris, France. I'm extremely excited! It will be nice to get away for a little while. I'll take lots of pictures so that I can spruce up this blog a bit!

Janey Ousted

I know I'm extremely late on this story but I think it's noteworth enough to post here.

Again, I am unsure what to make of Fenty's plan as of yet. Currently, I'm of the mindset of, "anything different is better than no difference." However, I will be watching Mr. Fenty and Ms. Rhee very closely to see what will become of all of this.

In a meeting I attended with some leaders from charter schools, the main concern expressed there was that charter schools that were initiated by DCPS would have to change their accountability plans to fit the DCPCSB standards. Of course, for WEDJ this is not really an issue because we are already authorized by the DCPCSB. Only time will tell what will really happen, but, again, I'm just glad that at least somebody is doing something different. The same old thing just wasn't working anymore.

End of Year Four

I have officially ended my "senior" year as a full-time teacher and my second year at WEDJ and working in DC. It seems weird to me, at this point, that I ever worked, or lived, anywhere else. It also seems unreal that so much has changed, for the better, since my having come here. I only hope I can continue the trend indefinitely.

Our students ended the year on a bright note. The middle/high school students put on "WEDJ Side Story", and, no, that is not a typo. It was basically a musical revue that explored interpretations of scenes from various shows including "Grease," "Porgy and Bess," "Titus Andronicus," and, of course, "West Side Story." We were also able to include quite a bit of original student work in the form of original rap and hip hop. It was overall pretty interesting and I am extremely proud to see how far the middle/high school student have come from the beginning of the year.

One week from today I will be leaving on my trip to Paris, France. I am looking very much forward to immersing myself in the history, culture, and artistic environment Paris is so famous for. Of course, I know that in only a week I will hardly get to experience the true Parisian experience, but I'd like to think I'll get a decent taste. My wife and I are hard at work, already, planning out every detail of our seven day excursion!

I've already been working hard on things for the WEDJ Summer Program. This summer, I have a lot of unique opportunities in the works. The theme is "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" and I'm trying to make it more of a sports/nature/arts/academia kind of thing. I have some unique programming that I'm bringing to the table, so I hope that students and teachers alike will have an enjoyable and meaningful experience!

One of the things I'm beginning to realize in having a public blog is, while it is great to have a forum to publically express things, often times, because it is public, I have to think it through so much that by the time I get around to even posting it, I've almost forgotten what my originaly intention was. So, that's my most recent excuse for not posting. However, I will try to be more religious about it in the future.

I have to keep a detailed journal for summer school this summer as part of my GW internship, so perhaps a few nuggets of inspiration will come from that and magically post itself onto here. We shall see!

Disney's Aladdin, Jr.

The William E. Doar, Jr. Public Charter School for the Performing Arts
Proudly Presents

Disney's Aladdin, Jr.
Performed by Grades PreK-5th
Wednesday, May 23rd at 2
Thursday, May 24th at 2 and 7

Tickets are $8
Call (202) 269-4646 for more ticket information.

A Great Experience

I was fortunate enough to be able to take my 5th and 6th grade select chorus students to two different events this week. On Wednesday, we went to a reception at The Hart Senate Office Building. I could tell my students could sense the importance of what they were doing there.

Then, on Friday, I got to take them to perform at the Fourth Annual Public Charter Schools Best Practices Conference which was presented by the State Education Agency's Office of Federal Grants Program. My students had the most amazing time there. Not only was it a great opportunity for them to perform for an enthusiastic audience, we were also provided with a very lovely meal in the ballroom with other conference-goers. The students were so well behaved. While we were eating, there were speakers talking about various responsibilities and realities we face as charter schools. My students not only listened intently, but even responded and interacted when questions were asked. I was so excited to see them, eyes bright with excitement over what they were doing. I think this event truly made an impact on them.

I would like to thank Ms. Claudine Sherwood, Dr. Ramona Edelin and all of those who helped to make these events possible for my students. It is very much appreciated!

Faculty Show and One Busy Week!

This past weekend was our annual faculty show and the theme was 60's and 70's. I apologize about not promoting it sooner so that some of my loyal readers could have attended. It was a great show, however, and we had a great turn out! Even a few of the guys from the DC Area Alumni Association for Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia came out to sing and we had a grand time!

This upcoming week is a busy one for me and for my 5th and 6th grade select chorus. Wednesday we will be performing for a reception at the Hart Senate Office Building. Then, on Friday we will be performing at a DC Charter School Best Practices Conference.

Amidst all of this we are hard at work pulling together our production of "Aladdin, Jr." which is going to open in just under three weeks. Talk about booked!