Talent Show 101, and sad to go

After our wildly successful Talent Show I am relieved and saddened.

I'm relieved because it's over, and I don't have to stress over it anymore! It was fun and I can't wait to do another one (especially after all I've learned from this year). We had a few technical glitches, and as my husband said, I was definitely spread too thin. Apparently, I can't do everything myself.

First, a few shout outs!
I had such awesome student help: Kareen ran lights, Aliyah ran the curtain, and Geneva just RAN! Before the show, I had Brendan and Mikey setting up lights and Jeru and Hayden moving large objects off the stage.

My teacher help made me look sooooo good! Sharon Rusconi, Terri Dsida and Maureen Magee-Quinn made this all possible. In my thank you card to Maureen I said, thanks for doing all the work and making it look like I was responsible---which is all so true. I feel like I was able to do so much else because I had these 3 awesome ladies' help.

Interesting fact about the 4 of us: only 1 of the 4 of us had a contract guaranteeing employment next year in BPS. Differently said, 3 of us were unemployed as of the opening of the Show! That night, Sharon got home and found a letter in her email inbox congratulating her on her position being reinstated.

That being said, neither Terri nor I have a job for next year. I hope that I will be blogging about that change...and not regretting the title of this blog!

As I said before, the Talent Show went really well. A few things that went well:
1. Performers were AMAZING!
2. Potluck before the show was a hit.
3. Our teacher support really showed me how the Irving can come together.
4. The show's attendance was shocking. There were probably about 200 people in attendance.
5. Our partnership with Making Music Matters allowed us to rent lights and have a sound system. Thanks, Sarah!
6. Did I mention the performers????

A few things that need worked on:
1. Potluck needs to be condensed to a smaller area. Too much space in the cafeteria.
2. Do a sound check/cd check closer to the time of the performance.
3. 2 words: Extra batteries.
4. Leave house lights at half so as to identify students who do not know how to behave as an audience member.
5. DO NOT let a performance go on until the audience is silent.
6. Hold people accountable for their trash as they leave (and don't let them bring in food to begin with!).

As to why I'm saddened, if you keep up with my blog I'm sure you can guess. As I have no job at the Irving next year, these last few weeks are my last. I told one group of 8th graders that I started at the Irving when they started 6th grade, so it seems fitting that I leave when they do. While they may be ready to leave, I know I'm not.