exhale

Creativity, at least for any kind of personal project, has nearly slowed to a halt in the past few weeks. So has communicating with people outside my immediate family and co-workers. The last few weeks of the school year are always a flurry of activity. This year closed with a spirited Awards Day Celebration and a slideshow of students, with photos chosen to synchronize with the lyrics to Katy Perry's "Firework", a song that often makes me cry, because it reminds me of them. The slideshow easily took 10-12 hours to create, even with student help, and it was worth it. The day before, we held a Field Day with a lipsync competition - the teachers and a former student performed Alice Cooper's "School's Out" in wigs and crazy outfits - like, realistic stuffed animals incorporated into their accessories, and one band member even outlined his eyes with permanent marker. Unbeknownst to everyone until that moment, they ran through the rows of the audience, pelting the students with confetti, paper shreddings, and silly string. It turned our crowd of reluctant-to-applaud teenagers into giggling, joyful kids, if only for an afternoon. It was wonderful.