Sunday, May 17, 2009

W H A C K !

Remember Batman and Robin . . . not the newest ones, but the original, you know with Adam West and company? Some of you reading this are thinking, who exactly is Adam West? Anyhow, one of the signature pieces to the original series was the WHAM! WHACK! SHBOOM! word flashes every time some bad guy was hit. It made for a bit of a weird viewing experience.

After coming off our audit on Friday, it feels a bit like that. We're grateful for audits because they help us to see what we sometimes wouldn't see, but geez, they can be eye-opening and a bit frustrating.

We definitely know where our focus has to be in the coming weeks and next year.

On a lighter note, things are picking up busy as normal for the springtime. Here's to all the cool stuff to look forward to.

Cheers.

Sunday, May 03, 2009

Performing Art

So, it's the day after Missoula Children's Theater...one of the coolest ideas/programs for kids out there and I can't help but think how important the arts are, whether it's performing art or visual art, there are opportunities for kids to thrive in a very different and meaningful way.

I'm proud of this year's efforts to go above and beyond and give kids opportunities (whether it's during lunch or before school) that are not part of a traditional curriculum or experience. Out of all the lessons I've ever taught as a teacher, not once . . . NOT ONCE . . . did I have a student come back to me and say, "Gee, Mr. Bowman, that lesson you taught on negative numbers was awesome." (LOL)

No, when the students come back to visit they talk about how you made them feel, the experience they had in your classroom or one specific event that is a memorable (like the time I accidently threw an eraser and clocked a student in the eye).

But with performing arts, they will remember how it felt to be out on stage, to have the audience laugh and listen and clap, and what it looked like behind the scenes.

Bravo to the kids that tried out and worked hard to perform. Well done.