A Musical Guest in Our Neck of the Woods

We were very lucky today to have Miss Lauren's mom, Mrs. Jill Pitz come in to share her talent with us. Mrs. Pitz is a harpist, and plays often at the Palladium, amongst other gigs all around the area. Her two sons, Jake and Michael, are former 5-1 students as well, but I regret to say this is the first time we've had her in to play for us. She told the students all about the harp, tying it in with our music unit in reading. She played a wide variety of songs, from Irish music to Canon in D to Disney music, and she even played some Beatles (Eleanor Rigby) and Led Zeppelin (Stairway to Heaven). Mrs. Pitz was very courageous and let the students try their hand at strumming the strings. By the end of her time with us, we had teachers from the hallway coming in to the room and standing outside the door. I was told by Mrs. Stemnock and Miss Hume that she even inadvertently provided a nice soothing background for a couple of tests they were giving. She was impressed with the kids' questions, and so was I.

That's not the only visitor we had today. Mrs. Ohrvall also came in to help out in the morning--and she stuck around for the performance as well. Thank you, Mrs. Ohrvall!

The kids also seemed to really enjoy a story I read to them today called Swamp Angel by Anne Isaacs and illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky. It's about a big baby who grows up into a giant woman who is one Tennessee town's last hope against an equally gigantic bear called Thundering Tarnation. And somehow, it all made sense.

Hope everyone has a great weekend. Come back Monday for a big week.