5th Graders: Highlight of my Week

At Governor's School last week, I did lots of things. Somehow, though, the highlight was a crazy group of 5th graders who visited campus. I wasn't exactly dreading helping with the event, but it wasn't on the list of things I was looking forward to, either. When they arrived, we got them off the bus, let them use the bathroom, and corralled them in a lobby to regroup.They were given a choice between music, visual art, and dance, and the music kids were told to stand next to me. I was ambushed and noticed right away that personal space was not a priority. Somehow I didn't mind, though; I kind of felt like Mother Goose (was it her?) with the huge skirt hiding lots of happy children. Plus, they didn't have that weird smell yet that 5th graders get after recess.

Right away these kids had questions and energy. So many questions and so much energy. They were incredibly bright. I've spoken to many groups of 8th graders about Governor's School opportunities, in big groups and small groups and one-on-one. The 5th graders' questions were way better. They were more enthusiastic and willing to think outside of whatever box gets put around us in middle school.

We all know that middle school is rough. What happens, though, to make us start judging one another constantly? Then we are afraid to be so bold with our questions, it's harder to think outside the acceptable box, and we make sure, in any situation, that our enthusiasm is dulled just enough to avoid criticism. Those habits seem to stay with us for the rest of our lives.

Maybe 5th graders have the answer: fewer filters and more happiness.

Happy Monday,

Lauren


The monkey is by Sharon Montrose from 200x200. He seems like a 5th grader.

Happy Friday

Hi, Everyone!

I presented at a conference in Myrtle Beach yesterday and am working here for the rest of the week. It makes me so happy to see the sun on the water and smell the salty air.

I'm so pleased that the Governor's School 2012 Share the Music Tour this week was such a huge success! I've been working on it for a while and was excited for the chance to reach so many people. The Wind Ensemble, Concertato, and vocalists divided up to do 12 outreach concerts in 9 schools - and one public concert for a total of 13 concerts. In two days! These students (and faculty) are wonderful, and they worked hard to share what they do at SCGSAH. Here is a little interview I did about it last week, if you didn't see the Facebook post.

Other posts you may have missed:

Little Projects to Make You Feel Good
What is Marriage?
Curtain Making!
A Dog in a Hoodie

Have a wonderful weekend! xo. 

Pina

Recently I watched Pina at the Governor's School - one of many reasons I feel lucky to work there.

You need to see this film! It's a gorgeous look at the work of German choreographer Pina Bausch and her dancers from the Tanztheater Wuppertal. Director Wim Wenders spent 20 years developing his ideas with Pina, but she died tragically just before filming was scheduled to begin. Wenders went on to capture Pina's dancers discussing her influence on their lives with a haunting authenticity that's clearly tied to their recent loss. He explores the essence of Pina through their anecdotes, observations, and most importantly, their dancing. 

Pina's dancers all say essentially that she made them better. She made them more beautiful, more confident, and more talented. Most interesting to me was that she elicited this kind of response was by being, for the most part, silent. She made them great by quietly giving them permission to search until they found their own beauty. Pina gave her dancers questions rather than answers. One dancer recalled a time, after a terrible rehearsal, that her only comment to him was "Go on searching." 

Another dancer said that Pina taught him to stand for everything he did - every gesture, every step, every movement. She believed wholeheartedly in a person's need to be authentic and to dance - or maybe to live - with intention.

Pina choreographed using the elements - rocks, water, mountains, dirt. She allowed beauty to be there, and for her dancing to be over it, through it, beside it. She didn't force beauty into a box. 

I often wonder how to make the world around me better - how to be a good colleague, friend, or wife. Pina reminded me, again, to slow down. Not to force! She reminded me to listen more than I speak, and not to use twenty words when three will do. She reminded me that it's okay to be vulnerable and that beauty and sorrow are necessary to each other's existence. She believed that fragility is actually strength.

Pina gave everyone around her the inspiration, and the freedom, to be better. I can't think of a better gift.

Pina by Walter Vogel 

One Big Circle

With Mom and Dad at the Peace Center for the 2003 Senior Showcase. 

Moving back to the South wasn't something I planned to do. When arrows started pointing in this direction, I was dubious at best. I thought I had too much to do and too much to see to come back so soon.

Luckily, I followed the signs and ended up with a job at a life-changing school that I love. SCGSAH is the place that really started shaping the person I would become, and there's something comforting about the cyclical nature of my return to Greenville. Now I have the opportunity to give others what I was given, and it's really an honor.

And no one believes me when I tell them about the good old days:

there were guys who spent the entire summer of 2002 rafting the Reedy in duct-taped blow-up chairs,

the Raid really happened,

and a trip to Cherrydale on an old yellow school bus was something to be excited about.

xo.

P.S. We were all thrilled to see Newsweek's list of the top high schools in the U.S. - SCGSAH was number 42!

February Life

Lovely Friends,

February is coming and going faster than I thought possible. Life has been insane, and luckily, I mean that in a good way! The Governor's School is in the midst of audition season, so weekends have been full of work and travel. But, wonderful colleagues and great kids make me hesitate to even call it work.

We got our beautiful invitations from Buzzy Craftery last week, so free moments have been filled with faking fancy handwriting. Ashley, our designer, made such an effort to incorporate everything I wanted, and she did a gorgeous job. She even based the design on my favorite street in Aiken, pictured below. It's right around the corner from our wedding spot.

On Sunday night, we had dinner with my family at Green Boundary to choose our menu. So fun! The theme is Southern Elegance, and if you know anything about the South, you know that no one is ever allowed to go home hungry. Throw in some fried green tomatoes and you've got yourself a treat.

xo,

Lauren

here

Ellen my Melon

I met my best friend Ellen eight years ago. We both attended the summer program at the South Carolina Governor's School for the Arts and Humanities, and although the extent of our summer friendship was one tearful, two-sentence bus exchange, I think that was for the best; camp flings rarely stand the test of time. Instead we waited until the residential program's Welcome Reception in the fall, where we recognized each other and became best friends withinabout...three hours? Six graduations, one wedding, and several cities later, here we are - still bff and finally back within one day's drive.

Last Saturday, John and I met Ellen and her husband, Ryan, in Port Clinton, OH, which with the help of Google Maps, we selected as a dubious half-way point between Cleveland and Ann Arbor. Luckily, Port Clinton offered a fun Mexican restaurant, an ice cream shop, and a grocery store with a lighthouse in the parking lot.

Our night was important on many levels: Everyone got to hang with John, and John got to meet everyone; Ellen and I practiced the trip that we'll probably be making multiple times per month; and I had Pomegranate Dark Chocolate frozen yogurt.

When Ellen and I lived on the same hall, we went out for dinner on Thursday nights, ran through Reedy River Park in torrential downpours, sneaked to each other's rooms after curfew, discussed life's ups and downs face-to-face, and enthusiastically joined The Raid (flooding of the boys' side of the dorm) on the night before graduation. We've been chanting "SAME CITY" ever since, and I think this might be the closest we're going to get.

Our RA lovingly(?) nicknamed us The Bobbsey Twins, a term we love to hate. So now we're going to Bobbsey Ohio, Michigan, and everything in between: shopping, sleepovers, movies, dinners! Here's to us, Ellen - it's about damn time.