Seven Days

162 hours. 

9720 minutes.

That’s the maximum amount of time I have with a student if they start and end elementary school at GW. 

It’s less than seven full days of life. 

Yet for some students, 

Those minutes, hours, and days really mean a lot. 

 

After after the K1 program last Friday night, 

One of my fifth grade boys came up and hugged me. 

Quite dramatically, he said, 

“Oh those last two songs got me.

I’m growing up. 

I’ve been singing that song for six years and this is my last.

That got me emotional!”

Then I realized that his eyes were red and puffy. 

His mom told me that he cried real tears during “One Small Voice” and the school song. 

 

Somewhere along the way from kindergarten to fifth grade, 

During those maximum 9720 minutes of music education, 

Music burrowed into his being 

And took root. 

He allowed it to form him and shape him and now he has the tools of music appreciation that he will carry with him for the rest of his life. 

 

At the beginning of the year, I was asked to write my educational manifesto. 

I wrote: 

I want to help create kind, respectful, culturally aware human beings with control over their bodies and voices and with a love of music and learning. 

 

I have 45 minutes per week, 

For up to 36 weeks per year, 

For up to six years, 

For a maximum of 162 hours of elementary music, 

To do my job and live into my manifesto. 

 

That’s not a lot of time.

 

Yet every once in awhile, 

Learning transcends time and students get it. 

 

And I am always so humbled and grateful when they do. 

 

Amen.