Provost's "Choose Today" Concert was on Thursday, October 27. The concert script and songs were given to all Utah PTA's, so that aspect was taken care of already. I had originally thought that our Red Ribbon Week committee would do a lot of the work to arrange the rest of the details. But when they informed me that they thought they'd signed up for the usual routine and did not want to plan a concert, I became the committee! I enjoyed working on it, and I did have some help from other board members (I couldn't have done it without Susan), but the preparation definitely kept me busy the last month or so.
When I first presented the idea to the teachers in August, I could tell that not all of them were convinced of the value of the concert. Understandably so -- it is time they need to spend working on songs, when they need to be accomplishing so many things academically. My vision for the concert was three-fold: 1) Bring our school together and create a sense of community, 2) Create a memorable event for the students that will stick with them and hopefully make a lasting difference when they are faced with choices about drugs and alcohol, and 3) Involve the community to get our school name out there in a positive way.
We decided to rent out the high school auditorium, since we knew we could barely fit our students in our gym, let alone their families. I know a few people were skeptical about whether or not the students would show up for the concert. I am grateful for my Mary Kay training, where I learned that you have to think positive and share your enthusiasm and advertise the event like crazy! That is exactly what we did, and I think everyone involved (including me!) was amazed at the turnout. I was hoping for 800-1000 people including the students. The Timpview auditorium holds about 1450 people, and we were pretty full -- I'm guessing we had around 1200 there!
I got to welcome everyone and introduce the concert and Mrs. Herbert. Aidelin was great to help with Spanish translation.
The students did a great job on their songs! The concert focused on making good choices regarding drugs and alcohol, but also about being a good friend, taking care of your body, being honest, and liking yourself. We had a few technical issues with the DVD that played in between songs, but overall it went fairly smoothly . . . especially considering that the students did not rehearse at the high school ahead of time!
I invited our school board and city council representatives, as well as the school district superintendent and the council PTA president. I debated whether or not I should invite the Mayor -- he's a busy guy. But I did decide to send him an invitation . . . he called me personally the next morning! It took him another week or so to arrange his schedule, but he was able to come! He even posted about it on his blog after!
I also wanted to invite the media to our event. I was able to get in touch with the state PTA public relations person, and she helped me with getting a Media Release sent out. Unfortunately, no media came -- they missed out! While on the phone, she happened to ask if I'd invited Utah's First Lady . . . Mrs. Herbert's Uplift Utah initiative created the concert. I had requested her -- twice -- on the PTA website but had not heard back. She informed me that that was not the right way to request anymore, and directed me to the First Lady's website. I filled out the request form immediately and emailed it, but I knew it was a long shot since by now we were only a week away from the concert. Long story short, Mrs. Herbert was able to arrange her schedule and she came to our concert! When I first greeted her upon her arrival that night, I learned that this was her first concert she has attended! That made me so happy that we are special to be her first, and that she didn't have any other one to compare it against! I sat by her for a lot of the program, and I could tell that she really enjoyed it. By the end of the finale number, she was in tears (so was I)!
Mrs. Jeanette Herbert
Thanks to my friend, Andrea, who was so kind to take pictures so that the PTA would have a record of the night. She was so nice to be sure to get pictures of my kids, since I was too busy with other things to do it myself (and her camera is SO much better than mine)!
Joshua and kindergarten sang "I Like Being Me."
Benjamin and 2nd grade sang "Take Care of Your Body." As their song started, I was helping the next grade line up and my back was to the stage. I heard the audience chuckle briefly. When I asked Ryan about it later, he said that the steel drum intro music started, and Benjamin did some boisterous drumming action while the rest of the kids stood still :)
Nathan and fourth grade sang "Honesty." Before each grade began their song, 2 students each said an intro sentence at the microphone. Nathan got to be one of the students for his grade and he did a great job, speaking very clearly. I was glad he was asked to do it, because maybe he has the concept ingrained in his head a little better! He said, "We know it is important to always be honest with everyone so that we can be trusted."
Overall, it was a wonderful evening! I feel that we met all of our goals, and that the Choose Today concert was a success!
1 comment:
Congratulations! You are amazing. I am so glad it was a great success.
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