Tuesday was Valentine’s Day, and it’s another holiday that has
been taken over by merchandised expectations. I wonder if school
children still cover shoeboxes with wrapping paper, cut a slot in
the top and use it to collect Valentines from their classmates,
because the ads would have us believe that Valentine’s Day is the
day women expect chocolates, flowers and possibly jewelry, and if
their current love interest doesn’t produce the goods, he’s
toast.
Tuesday was Valentine’s Day, and it’s another holiday that has been taken over by merchandised expectations. I wonder if school children still cover shoeboxes with wrapping paper, cut a slot in the top and use it to collect Valentines from their classmates, because the ads would have us believe that Valentine’s Day is the day women expect chocolates, flowers and possibly jewelry, and if their current love interest doesn’t produce the goods, he’s toast.
Not that I have anything against chocolates, flowers or jewelry but I’m nostalgic for the time when we bent over our snub-nosed scissors and jars of paste to create heartfelt – if sticky – messages for those we loved.
Half of the fun was designing something special for each friend; something that reflected their unique contribution to your life and something that would make them smile.
This past Valentine’s Day, I noticed a news item that made me smile at least as broadly as would a two-pound box of See’s Nuts and Chews, but won’t rot my teeth. This treat was the news in the Free Lance that the Hollister School District Elementary School Band has earned an invitation to perform at the California Music Educators Convention.
Why am I so excited about 98 fourth and fifth graders getting to go to Sacramento? After all, it’s a long way from American Idol. But think about it. Here is a group of kids who only practice all together for two hours per week.
Thanks to donations of instruments and cash from our community, even children whose families couldn’t afford instruments have been able to participate. Best of all, the program has (so far) survived the looming deficit of the Hollister School District, the kind of deficit that often results in the elimination of music and fine arts programs.
I have not met Susan Chizek, the band teacher for all six elementary schools in the Hollister School District, but her band leader’s baton must have something of the magic wand in it for her to bring this kind of excellence out of a scattered bunch of 9- and 10-year olds. I’m sure they are talented kids, but I’m also sure we don’t have a cluster of precocious geniuses here in town. No, somehow Ms. Chizek has awakened a set of qualities in these children that not only enables impressive band performances, but could very well equip these kids for success in whatever else they try in life.
For example, they must be practicing SOME on their own to be able to work only two hours a week as a whole band and pull together their repertoire. So they are learning discipline, patience and perseverance in the face of discouragement. If you have ever heard a beginning trumpet player, you know what I’m talking about.
They are also learning focus. As a group, the band has to make every minute of their two hours together count. So side conversations, poking and punching and other shenanigans must be kept to a minimum, or the practicing won’t get done.
And maybe most importantly, they are learning cooperation. They each have to do their part, not less (like not showing up, or not practicing at home) but not more (no grandstanding, no playing above the group).
So, even though this Valentine wasn’t addressed to me, I’m not only smiling, I’m singing (In my car. Where nobody can hear me.).
