[Miscellany]

I get a call today:

Parent: Hello it's JS (mother of child I taught last year).
Me: Hi there! So nice to hear from you again!
Parent: Thank you! Sorry to take up your lunch break but I had a little problem.Me: That's okay. What can I do for you?
Parent: Well, E isn't at school today and she's really upset that she's going to miss art.
Me: *laughing*.
Parent: *laughing* I know! Anyway, E's really beside herself and wants me to bring her in especially for art today - but she's way too sick. She loves it so much. She really doesn't want to miss out.
Me: I have to let you know J that this has made my day.
Parent: Haha, I'm glad to hear it. I hear that you've making some garden stakes out of clay today and I wanted to know whether she can have a bit of clay to make it when she comes back to school.
Me: Well, sure. But if she's well on Friday she can come in and do the lesson with another grade.
Parent: oh, that's a great idea thank you! That will make her so happy. She loves you and misses you!
Me: Well, I miss her too of course!
Parent: ...thank goodness that worked out. When I told her I'd ring you to see what we could work out she told me "don't tell Miss F that I've been crying all day about it!".
Me: hahaha, oh kids are adorable!
Parent: Wait till you have your own.
Me: hahaha.

Yesterday we held autidions for the parts for the movie project. There was the usual riff raff of children too embarrassed to get it done properly, and surprisingly some real talent there too. I was so proud of the group for organising the auditions so well. They did it all, including the distribution of script and pep talks to the budding actors. We all sat in the art room with serious hollywood producer type looks on our faces while the readings were going on. The one problem was the lack of talent for the main character. We were only auditioning children in the upper grades but I thought of one child I knew of in a lower class who takes acting lessons outside of school. He was a transfer student a couple of years ago from a Steiner School - so obviously geared towards creativity. Anyway, this kid gets up and I swear to god it was like watching Laurence Olivier in action - there were arm movements and expression, he wasn't even looking down at the script the whole time. Tony awards here we come! He did a cold reading and was awesome. The problem is, there's a bit of prejudice towards him being younger and so the group is unsure. There are so many things at school that we do that is all about giving the underdog a go, but for once I just want to say - let's give the gold star to the best kid eh?!

I await with baited breath for the call-backs tomorrow and the readings we do to test compatibility between actors.

posted by M at 2:02 pm 15 comments