Beautiful, Loved and Blessed

Being Involved

Oh my goodness is this really all of your stuff? A few of the children asked as we walked around Paisley. To my surprise they were really attentive. I wanted to meet the children before I met with their parents. This way I could learn their names, have them look at and play with some of the instruments so they could determine where their interest lied. Some kiddos were shy, yet enthused but most of children were simply in awe of the place.

After a tour, I decided to bring them to the newly converted music room and lay down some ground rules...in the most fun way possible.  Arriving back at the music room, Celeste was making it VERY clear that not adhering to the 5:15pm pick-up time will not be tolerated under any circumstances.  Keeping people in line was Celeste's specialty and by the looks on the parents faces, they didn't want any problems with her.

When the parents saw me, the look of relief on their faces made me smile.  I asked the children to sit next to their parents and I noticed one of the students go to Principal Mueller, I assume the parents were unable to attend. Out of 22 children it seemed as if only one or two of them had fathers.  I had to chuckle, some of the married women were definitely trying to impress and some were actually doing a really good job. The ones that weren't wearing a wedding band, well let's just say they weren't going to be outdone.  Once everyone was settled, I began to speak to both the parents and children.

"I'd like to lay down a few ground rules as to what is expected of both the parents and the children. The rules for the children are as follows, have fun, learn, be respectful and musically strive to be your absolute best. Remember, music is the tool, but you are the instrument that will guide the tool.  

Parents, the rules for you are to allow your child to have fun, allow them to learn music THEIR way, respect their feelings and strive to create the absolute best supportive environment for them. Children are gifts from God and you are only the instrument that God utilized to bring forth these precious gifts.

Let's all remember who they truly belong to and nurture them as such. Can we all follow those rules?"

"Yes, Mr. Nelson!"

"Oh...and another rule...don't call me Mr. Nelson!"

The parents laughed as the children looked bewildered.

"So what should we call you?" A little girl asked.                                                                                                      

"Ummm, well my first name is Prince and my middle name is Rogers. So you can call me either Mr. P or Mr. Rogers, how about that?"

"Or we could just call you Mr. Music Teacher," said another little girl named Misty.

Laughing I said, "Misty I like that name too."

"Okay, with that being said, Celeste could you take the children to the kitchen for a snack, while I speak with the parents?"

With a sly smile Celeste said, "No problem...Mr. Music Teacher."

Once Celeste and the children left the music room, I decided to get a little more serious with the parents.

"For those of you who don't know me, my name is Prince Rogers Nelson. I am a musician and I am also the new music teacher for the 'Intro to Music' program."

The parents smiled and clapped.

"I wanted to meet with you before the start of school, because it's important to set expectations for you and for me. Additionally, I would like your feedback of what you expect from me. So let me start by saying, the rules I spoke of previously, I am beyond sincere about. Most of you probably know more about me than I wish you did. And if you didn't already know, let me tell you that my childhood wasn't what I would've wanted for myself. However, because of it music became my outlet and my thing, but it may not be your child's thing and I want you to be respectful of that. I ask that you not put pressure on your children because I, Prince Rogers Nelson, am their teacher. That is unfair to them if you do that. Every child in my class will have fun and will learn to like and appreciate music, but not every child in my class will LOVE music as extensively as I do or as extensively as you would like them to. I will respect it and I want you to respect it as well. Allow your children to be children and let us all try to tap into the child within in order to better understand the child in front of us.