Redoing Fine Arts Fair

Staff meeting after school today with some hot ticket agenda items... lunch schedule (poor 7-8th graders are missing all their noon recess, plus three of us teachers are getting gipped on class time because lunch is always ready sooner than expected), the Lutheran Educators Conference in October, and a report from Mr. E from his principal's meeting about a potential revamping of the Fine Arts Fair in March. 

The LEC is set up different than usual this year (thanks again, covid): no breakout sessions since it's hard to find speakers to commit, so we're having one speaker doing two sessions with a possible breakout at the end. The thing is, the speaker did a zoom session for us in the Minnesota South District last spring about taking time to rest, and it appears the conference will be the same presentation. So. Is it the same spiel? If so, do we need to go again if we've already heard it? TBD. If we don't have to go, man, I could take a vacation or something... we have a half day of school Wednesday and no school Thursday or Friday... hmm.... I better slow down my brain until we get more details.

The Fine Arts Fair drama started because MLHS has a new choir director (who teamed up with the insanely talented music director at Fairmont) to rev up the FAF. The only thing is, he wants the event to be like a high school solos and ensembles day or an "all state" type of gathering. His proposal is to start at 8:30 in the morning with individual events, a two hour break over noon followed by two hours of mass choir rehearsal, a supper break for the choir, art exhibit open to the public at 6pm, then the traditional hand bell/choir concert at 7pm. Except the only people involved in that concert are 5-8th graders. So, we probably would have to leave for the day at 7am and get home around 9pm or so. What a day. 

They also want to make the event happen on a Friday during the school day. Well that's a better option, you might be thinking, however, if we'd take a bus down to Northrop, parents wouldn't take off work and we teachers would be supervising all our kiddos... while we're supposed to be helping judge/run papers/accompany our solos and ensemble groups. Plus, what do kids do in all that downtime? There isn't a good place for people to hang out in between things. 

Anyway, long story just a little longer, the plan didn't go over well at our staff meeting and it sounds like it didn't go over well at the principal's meeting. At this point in time, the plan from the music director is just a proposed change and not set in stone. The two directors are looking for input from the other lutheran schools. My suggestion was that the new director should see how the FAF is run this year, just to see how it goes, and then make changes for next year if he still wants to. That might give him an idea of all the moving pieces that effect everything that happens for all the schools involved, especially those from far away that join in.