Sheila Sims Iding
It happens every year in Care Corner. It happens every year in the whole school. Actually…it happens every year nation wide…maybe world wide. School children prepare for their Christmas program. The preparation starts before Thanksgiving because the gift has to be right. It has to be a gift.
The day the Care Corner Kids get assigned the song is the day I give them the “gift of song” lesson. It is the season of giving. Giving gifts to those we love and appreciate in our life. Care Corner Kids are no different. They are gift givers too. Mrs. Piecuch, Fr. John, parents, grandparents and families give us so much all year, it is important to give back. When you are a first grader, you can’t drive to the mall, you can’t stop by Meijers on your way home and you can’t use part of your paycheck to buy something special. So…we decide right then and there that our gift will be presented at the night of the Christmas program. Our gift will be our song.
As we plan and prepare for presenting our gift…it’s then you realize the real gift is not about the song. It’s about so much more.
It’s about the song Mrs. Darling teaches them in music and when we first hear it in Care Corner, they get to teach it to Mrs. McKerr and to me. They know the words before we do so they become the teachers.
It's about a new music teacher, Amy Darling (who is just that), connecting with kids and community to help us pour our heart and soul into a song...because she pours her heart and soul into her job. It's about how she knew, even before the performance, the importance of this night to our school, our parish, our community.
Thank YOU, Mrs. Darling!
It’s about listening to the song several times a day as we work on religion and Christmas projects. The song slowly weaves its way into their head,..and into their hearts. They begin to own it as “their” song.
It’s about breaking the song apart so each word has meaning. The chorus is repeated over and over and that is the part that sticks in your head when you go out to recess. “Glory, glory…glory hallelu….” The verse part is the important part because it tells the story. It's the harder part. It’s the part the audience needs to hear to connect the play together. We have to be careful in our singing…our storytelling..in our gift giving,
It’s about getting that challenging line in our song…our gift. We say it over and over. We figure out it’s meaning and then we sing it. “This is his God’s only son!”. It didn’t make sense to them so we dissected and practiced and perfected that part of the gift. And nobody knew it but when they nailed that line the night of performance, we all secretly rejoiced…and smiled.
It’s about a box of angel costumes being delivered to our classroom one afternoon and being called back one at time for “costuming”. Lots of exciting things happen the whole year in first grade and being handed your angel costume is one of them.
More than the costume…when you are an angel in first grade it’s about the halo. These halos seemed extra special. The stars were huge on this garland and gold was mixed with silver to make it even more sparkly. When you hand them their halo, the garland from the dollar store magically becomes priceless.
It’s about those halos hanging in the classroom waiting for “gift” night. It’s like a present under the tree waiting to be unwrapped. Those halos hanging from the board are a reminder of a special gift to be unwrapped.
It’s about practicing and practicing and preparing the gift of song. It’s about the “choir line” from tallest to shortest. It’s about the practice on the risers for the first time and marshmallow feet stepping without making a sound. It’s about the music class with the other first graders. We watch some movies together but this is our only class together. It’s a special part of the gift.
It’s about dress rehearsal and the whole school coming together to put the finishing touches on the combined gift. It’s the only time we get to see the whole play because the night of the performance we are waiting the wings.
At dress rehearsal it’s about seeing your brother or sister or your cousins and watching them give a gift of song. Even more exciting, it’s about seeing your 5th grade pen pal or your 8th grade journal buddy and…having them see you. Dress rehearsal is also the first time you wear your halo…and discover it can be itchy…but priceless just the same.
It’s about being nervous to be in front of siblings and cousins and the bigger kids. It’s about the lesson that I love to teach them. One I learned in sports. Being nervous is a good thing. It gives you extra energy. So don’t waste energy trying NOT to be nervous. If something is important…you may be nervous so just let yourself be nervous and enjoy the extra energy. That one lesson of allowing yourself to be nervous…actually helps calm some nerves.
It’s about the night of the presentation of the gift. It’s about angels gathering in a classroom at night. Just coming to Care Corner at night produces some excitement. Seeing friends and teachers at night is exciting. And the lights of the classroom are off and Christmas music is softly playing and all the Christmas lights of Care Corner look brighter than they do during the day. Friends, teachers, classroom, lights…all seem excitedly different at night than during the school day. There is excitement in the air…it’s the night of the performance…the night of gift giving.
And before the gift is presented…it’s about team pictures as angels. It’s about one last run through of the song,..just to warm up our voices. It’s about a prayer to St. Cecilia…patron saint of music…asking her to guide our performance…our gift. It’s about traveling in the night from classroom to church to present the gift. It’s about waiting in the aisle so excited to finally unwrap this special gift. And then….
It’s about the presentation of the gift. The song…the words…the volume…the smiles…the angel costumes…the itchy halos…the smiles…the volume…the words…the song. “Glory, glory, glory hallelu….Glory, glory to God.” In the play we are the angels announcing the birth of Baby Jesus. In real life, we are Care Corner Kids making a special delivery of the gift of song.
And as the program ends and your song is over and the whole school sings “Let There Be Peace on Earth”, you realize it’s not about the song. It’s about the 5th grade pen pals carefully holding their hands to escort them back to the classroom. It’s about parents gathering in the classroom and “surprising” parents with the candle holder gift we made for them. It’s about former Care Corner Kids coming back to give holiday hugs. It’s about telling them they can keep those halos. “Forever?”. Yes…forever.
It’s about thanking them for such an amazing gift of song and trying to tell them how incredibly proud you are. More importantly how proud St. Cecilia must be.
And as the angel costumes are folded safely back in that box. And the halos are safely home. And the memories are safely stored in our hearts, you think about those first grade angels and their special performance. And you reflect on all the things that led up to the presentation and unwrapping of their gift of song and that is when you realize…it’s not about the song. It's about so much more.