5 for Fraturday; Sound Button, Music & Education World Loss, New Student, It's a Gas, Meet Up!

Once again, no Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday blog post, but here it is...Five for Fraturday!!

I have blogged about my sound buttons several times before {check the word cloud on the right & click on Sound Buttons to see the previous posts} 2 weeks ago while shopping at Walmart I spotted this one...it has 17 different sounds/phrases & it is definitely a favorite of my students right now {okay, I love it too!}  

I am copying what I put on Instagram here:

 So sorry to hear of the passing of Mic Gillette.

 #micgillette Such an amazing musician and person!

 He believed in our youth and in music education. He 

has made a lasting impact on the people of our 

community. He had come to teach, encourage, 

inspire, and perform with our Jr. High & High School 

Band students for the last 5 years. When Andrew was

in 8th grade he sold the most tickets for his section 

to Atomic Jazz & received a one on one lesson with 

Mic. Mic & Tom Politzer #tompolitzer both would 

spend lunch with the kids & really interact & engage 

with them. Mic was & Tom is a member of Tower of 

Power #towerofpower These gentlemen have 

created a true legacy by investing in kids & music 

education. Mic's presence will be missed!

Mic passed away last Saturday.  

Mic's daughter left this comment on my Instagram post:

He was so proud of the Barstow kids. My family 

always enjoyed taking the trip and watching the

 magic. Thank you for the memories kids.

Our high school will continue this spring with ATOMIC Jazz {TOM for Tom Politzer~MIC for Mic Gillette}  Tom will still come to work with our music students and may bring another member of Tower of Power.  I am tearing up writing this.  I am sure the upcoming concert & time with our students & music teacher, Mr. Barilone, will be incredibly emotional.  Here is a quote from Mr. Barilone from our local newspaper: “Mic really talked to the kids, and shared stories about when Tower(of Power) was on the road doing gigs with the Rolling Stones,” he said. “That’s stuff that is not everyday conversation. Tom (Politzer) is on board for Atomic Jazz, he may bring someone else from Tower of Power. But what I really want to do is honor our friend Mic. It’s what he would want. No matter how short he was, I’m sure he would be telling me he would kick my butt if we didn’t keep on playing.”

You can read more about Mic & his impact on our community HERE & HERE

 After I hit 'Publish' I thought of more I wanted to share...Mic was a GIFTED musician...during Andrew's one on one lesson Mic shared that when he was in 2nd grade he was bussed to the high school to participate in the high school band...I am so very glad I live in a district that values music education!

We had a new student join our class this week.  Each time we have a new student I use a Koosh ball for the students to introduce themselves & tell a bit about me, our class, &/or our school.  My third thing that they say when they have the Koosh ball is usually some kind of random question like...what is your favorite cookie?...what toothpaste do you use?...what is your favorite fruit?...this time though I had them share something they wanted to do in 2016...all of their responses were so fun to hear...students talked about me being a lifelong learner...them wanting to read more...that I love to read...that we are a Leader in Me school...it is a nice way to introduce them all to each other!  I love that the bag I keep my Koosh balls in has the Truffula trees & they kind of look like Truffulas!

Last night I was able to participate in 'It's a Gas to TEACH Class'...we are so very blessed in the High Desert to have a program that began 5 years ago to encourage attendance in our high school students...each year they have grown the program...it currently involves 10 school districts...it began as It's a Gas to Go to Class...year 1--1 car was given to a high school student who had perfect attendance for the year; year 2--2 cars were given to high school students who had perfect attendance for the year; year 3--2 students were given a car for perfect attendance for the year & then they began It's a Gas to TEACH Class & 1 teacher was given a car for perfect attendance; year 4-- 2 student cars~2 teacher cars & now this year, year 5~2 student cars, 2 teacher cars & one classified car!!!...they did the giveaway for the first car for teachers last night, it was for perfect attendance for the first semester of the year...& I qualified!! The superintendent came by with my {Greenish} Golden Ticket earlier in the week...the event was held at the county fairgrounds & involved 10 districts in the High Desert...no, I didn't win the car, but I did win a toaster/convection oven!!! In addition to the car they had over 100 different prizes that were given away!!  The winner of the FIAT is a 1st grade teacher in Victorville Elementary School District...I also had the chance to speak with & thank the creators of this incredible program, Billy & Kevin...they are from Desert FIAT & Victorville Motors...they have recruited many more businesses to support these programs...this year they also started a program for San Bernardino Unified School District...they shared that after the shooting in San Bernardino in early December, the attendance a the elementary schools was down 70%, but that there was not a significant difference at the high school, the students wanted to keep up their perfect attendance for the chance at a car...if you look at my previous post about the program you can what an impact this has made in attendance over the last 4 years...what a blessing to live in a community that values education at proves it through actions!!!! 

As soon I hit the 'Publish' button, I will hop into the shower, get ready, & start driving 2 1/2 hours to meet up with other Southern California Bloggers in Manhattan Beach...I am SOOOO excited!!