Wow! I can't believe how fast the year is going already. It's already Feb. 8!! Wow! Here at San Juan, we just had parent/teacher conferences yesterday -- only 4 more weeks left in the 3rd quarter. The days seem to fly by. Maybe that's just because I've been so busy. I've spent the last two weekends working on flats for the upcoming play of Little Shop of Horrors. We have "flats" here, but I don't think I have more than 2 which are the same size, shape or aren't falling apart. So, I've got money in the budget, why not build 10 good, sturdy flats that I know are built right. We (me, Zach, Becca Jean, Kortney and Morgan H.) built 10 in just a few hours. Then, last weekend, we covered them with canvas and started priming them.
The play is going much better than I had hoped. Through "networking," I found a school with Audrey II plants that I could rent for only $300 (other schools/universities wanted minimum $1200, not to mention shipping). We got the plants Sunday night. I was worried because my friend (and school board member) said she could pick them up since she was going to Cedar City for a baby's blessing. But then she told me her son, who had the pickup, wouldn't be able to get it. I wasn't sure how we would get them -- Cedar is a good 7 hrs drive away from here and the largest Audrey II is 7 foot by 5 foot. But, prayers do come true and we have them. They are awesome! The kids had tons of fun "playing" with them on Monday. Michael Hawkins spent a half hour "running around" with stage 3 on, trying to "bite them". Aye aye. :)
We are about 2 1/2 weeks from opening night. While the play is still "rough", I'm pleased with our progress. I "skipped" conferences yesterday (there was a note on the door stating I was in the auditorium and only about 10 parents came to talk with me during the 8 hours) and we ran through the whole play once and then through the songs 3-4 times each. The good thing/bad thing is that we are using the "karaoke" music for the play. That's good because the kids practice with is what they'll get -- no adjusting to a live orchestra. However, there are some songs that go realllly fast. The cast is still jazzed and I think it will go well. We have one student (you have to have one), who thinks he knows everything. He didn't get the part he wanted, so he's trying to tell the person who did how to do the part. Not sure if the kid realizes what he's doing. I have a pretty low threshold for idiots, so I've told my student director that when he gets to be too much for her, we'll cut him. Well, we talked with him last week and he freaked out, as if we were evil. I told him we'd give him one last chace (he was doing an assortment of things -- being late, lying, bossing people around, etc.). Becca still wants to cut him, but he hasn't really committed any new offenses and I don't want to get a new person in with only 2 weeks to go. On a publicity note, I have the tickets and posters at the media center being printed; programs are almost done; but I still need to get sponsorship letters out to the businesses.
Oh, did I mention that we had tryouts for the regional drama festival in March, so students are working on that as well. Regions are March 25 and 26. Spring Break is March 11 (my birthday) to March 20. The State drama festival will be in April. After that, I'm going to do a "Experiments in Ink" script writing night/One-Act festival in early May. Whew! It's good that I like to be busy.
Zach's doing well. He's going to start "Mat Rat" community wrestling in a few weeks. His grades are ok (even though they could be much better). He's at his first "church dance" tonight -- it's open to 12 and up rather than 14 and up. We'll see how that goes. We also joined the new fitness center run by the city. It's only $20 a month for the two of us (added to our utility bill). Much better than the $80-90 I paid in The Dalles (and this is the same size if not bigger). So Zach's been working out, too.
On a professional note, finally got my ESOL endorsement approved (that's 3 endorsements on my license now). Reading class #3 is almost over (only 2 more to go). Had my 2nd observation last week (by the principal) and I think it went well. I've had some good reports from other teachers and support staff. This Friday, I get to spend the day reading district writing samples. Not sure if that will be fun or not.
On a personal note, Zach and I are heading up to Orem this weekend. I have the free tickets to the Hale Center Theatre and the first play ends this weekend. It's called The Foreigner and sounds pretty funny. It'll be nice to get away for a night, eventhough I hate driving 4 hours each way.
No comments:
Post a Comment