Elementary Musical!

During February and March, Ruth and I were able to join forces to lead a group of 30 elementary students in 2nd-6th grade from NCA in a musical production! (Yes, this is an "old news" post; sorry for the delay!) The logical thing to do when you feel too busy with life is to add another commitment, right? The high school had recently performed "Beauty and the Beast," and many younger kids were lamenting the fact that they couldn't participate in that musical (including Henry and Mae). . .so we created an opportunity for younger students to get up on the stage. We decided that we could only manage about 30 kids in total, which in hindsight was a very good decision. The 30 spaces were full within 24 hours of the announcement of the musical, which was an affirmation that we were meeting a "need" in our school community.

We spent 7 after-school afternoons preparing for a short, 20-minute musical based on the "Three Trees" folktale. The story, also in book form, is very appropriate for the Easter season (Christmas, too), and we were able to perform it at a special chapel for our elementary Spiritual Emphasis Day--the day before our Easter break. The kids did a fantastic job. . .I was VERY impressed with the quality (and strength!) of their voices, their ability to memorize the words (many for whom English is a second language) and choreography, and the way they took their roles so seriously. 

It was also great working with Ruth--we often have very different "work lives," so it was nice to have a project together (yes, we did have some differences in opinions every so often, but it only served to bring us closer together:)).

Some pictures of our practices:

And of the performance:

I think this will become a yearly tradition at NCA; we are thankful to see the love of music and the stage so present at our school, even at a young age. It was awesome to see our own children glorifying God through the telling of His story. 

Watch it here!