Today, my son Tsoof had his graduation ceremony and finished Year 12. Wow, it was fast! It did not only feel fast, but it was, because he only celebrated his 16th birthday last month.
In the past three weeks, he has had many awards night, celebrations, final concerts and farewell parties. During those events, Tsoof received many awards for excellence, for leadership, for showmanship, for his contribution to his school, his friends and his community and we felt honored and blessed for his talents, his kindness and his love for what he does.
You seen this in the movies: the parent of the star performing on stage is sits in the crowd, looks around and tells everyone that sits next to them in excitement, “This is my son” Well, this is how we felt at every event. Tsoof is so talented and so famous we introduce ourselves as “Tsoof’s mom/dad/sister” and we were very proud.
At the end-of-year Performing Arts evening, as the winner of the prestigious title “Performing Artist of the Year”, Tsoof opened the night and said, “Good evening. My name is Tsoof. I am a school captain, Vocal Harmony and Wind Symphony captain, a member of the Senior Percussion Ensemble (Mac-cussion), Show Choir and Big Band. Thank you for coming this evening”.
Gal, Eden, Noff and I sat the whole night proud as peacocks for being associated with him.
That was his last performance with all his ensembles, where he said goodbye to those who had contributed greatly to growing his talents, enthusiasm and passion for music – his music teachers. Three of them had been his musical mentors and had taught him for eight years, through both primary and high school.
David Adelt had been his percussion teacher and mentor since 5th Grade. Lee Norell had been his band conductor since 5th Grade and his composition and voice tutor in 12th Grade. Jody Lutherburrow had been his band conductor since 5th Grade. Tamara Luski had been his Vocal Harmony and Show Choir conductor and his classroom music teacher for the past 3 years. Sandy Armstrong had been his Performing Arts Coordinator and Music Extension teacher for the past 4 years. From every stage he performed on, he looked at these 5 teachers and thanked them for supporting and developing his talents.
As you know, teaching is not a very prestigious profession. The financial rewards are not that impressive, but the emotional rewards are enormous. When your students are successful, it is a record of your teaching ability.
When we sent our kids to school, I knew that some of the teachers they would meet on their journey would influence their life. I never dreamed it would be such profound impact, carved on every musical piece he writes, every tune he plays and every song he sings.
It is very rare that you have the same teacher for 8 years, let alone 3 of them. If they are great teachers, you can easily explain the excellence.
It was the end-of-year concert and I watched Tsoof performing in most of the numbers of that night. I looked at his teachers and realized they were sitting there, much like us, with teary eyes, proud as peacocks. Every one of them thanked the parents for supporting their kids in their musical pursuits and I whispered, “Thank you!”
Dear David, Lee, Jody, Tamara and Sandy,
I thank you for teaching my son about commitment and that getting up early in the morning, when it is still dark outside, is worth the effort.
I thank you for telling my son over and over again that he needs to play and sing for himself and not to please his parents, as that has developed his self-motivation.
I thank you for being role models for my son. Thank you for being generous with your time and modeling how putting your hand up to help others can make you a better person. Thank you for showing him that giving is the best way to receive.
I thank you for teaching my son that real winners are not those who get the best part or win the competitions but those who have the courage to stretch their boundaries, to try, practice, learn and compete with others, even if they don’t have a chance to get the first prize.
I thank you for inspiring my son to embrace every opportunity and make the most of it.
I thank you for being so professional and having high expectations of my son, because I believe that his professionalism and excellence is a result of this constant stretch for excellence.
I thank you for not giving him “discounts” and lowering your expectations just because he had a busy schedule and other things to do. Thanks to this, he has proven to himself he can excel in academics too, despite his being so busy with music.
I thank you for teaching my son to be humble and setting an example of accepting others and their abilities without making fun of them or judging them.
Thank you for teaching my son teamwork, because the success of the ensembles in every piece played or sung was the result of everyone’s ability to put the success of the team above their own.
Thank you for allowing him to wear his hat, grow his hair long, keep his uniqueness and show others around him that respect is something that comes from within and the urge for self-expression can be channeled in good ways.
Today, at the graduation ceremony of the Class of 2011, I wanted to say to you that as his teachers, my son spent more time with you than he did at home. I am a proud mother and I couldn’t have done it without you.
Thank you so much!
To honor these teachers, Tsoof put together a band of friends to play an original song written by Andrew Butler, Jamee Seeto and Tsoof. They rehearsed for hours and at the final concert, they asked the teachers to sit in the front row and played their song for them. Unfortunately, there were some technical glitches, so when we got home, I asked Tsoof to record a simpler version of it. It is called “Goodbye” (temporary name) and describes the students’ feelings about leaving their teachers.
Enjoy,
Ronit
* MacG is short for “Macgregor High School” * A fermata is a musical symbol for holding a note longer
We will never regret No, we’ll never forget This place that we’ve been And all the things that we’ve seen
As we take our last breath And stop to face the rest We will remember the time When you helped us shine
Chorus 1: Without you, it’s like bread without butter A son without a father, There ain’t nobody else like you, And because you, mean so much to me And you care so much for me It’s so sad it’s time to leave Goodbye MacG family
Who would’ve said? That five year ahead Here we’d all be One big family And now we’re singing to you ‘Cause we wanna thank you For all that you’ve done We’ve had so much fun
Chorus 2
Without you, it’s bread without butter A son without a father, I’m just a fermata, hold me And because you, mean so much to me And you care so much for me It’s so sad it’s time to leave Goodbye MacG family
As we take our last breath And stop to face the rest As we take our last breath And stop to face the rest Don’t wanna go, don’t wanna go, don’t wanna go It ain’t easy to say goodbye Don’t wanna go, don’t wanna go, don’t wanna go It ain’t easy to say goodbye
Last week, my kids were guests at a primary school assembly at a school which was not their own school (Tsoof is in his fourth year at university and Noff is in Grade 9). At dinner, they shared their experience with us. "The deputy principal", Noff said in shock, "Told…
Last week, on our way back home from a weekend at friends' house, our 12-year-old son Tsoof asked if we thought he was a "super kid". In the past year, we talked to him a lot about three kids in his music department that everyone, including us, thinks of as…
Children's behavior is the concern of many parents. Kids can be diagnosed with ADD, ADHD or ODD, when in fact, it is the various choices their parents have made throughout the course of their kids' lives that make kids act the way they do. Yes, I know this is hard…