I wanted to brag about my students a bit! We went to contest last friday. My 6th grade group got a silver rating, and my 7th/8th grade group got gold! They were so great! I'm soooo proud of them! The judges comments were really great too. one said something like "your director is working hard for you." That was an amazing feeling of recognition that I haven't felt since I started teaching 3 years ago!

Good luck to all other educators taking groups to contest this year!

Ditto!

Thanks guys!
I talked to a parent of one of my students today and she said her daughter "came home and she was on cloud 200!" It makes me feel great to hear that. I'm so proud of what my kids have accomplished and they are super excited too!

Thanks Alyson,
It is a challenge just to challenge kids, because their parents don't necessarily understand that it isn't "extra curricular," its actually curricular. There's no one besides me telling the kids how important it is to practice. (you'd think that the parents would want their kids to use the high dollar instruments they buy for them.)When I was a private teacher, I always made sure that my kids had something above the level that they were playing at school, otherwise there was no point. Public teaching is hard. I miss teaching privately, but times where the students are really into it, and working their hardest make it worth it!