Clayton, your gracious comments (below) are perfect – thanks for helping me to start my day with extra inspiration!
TO ALL: Here’s a link to the KEYE story about Blackshear Elementary’s National Blue Ribbon Award. You can see Clayton and his Outreach class at the 1:30-2:00 section of the clip . Here’s hoping this award adds momentum for the return of fine arts education in every public school. Way to go Clayton! David http://keyetv.com/news/features/top-stories/stories/East-Austin-39-s-Blackshear-Elementary-Earns-National-Recognition-212534.shtml From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Clayton Stromberger Sent: Thursday, October 01, 2015 7:57 AM To: Anne Engelking Smith Cc: Jayne Suhler; Mary Collins; [email protected]; [email protected] Subject: Re: [Winedale-l] Because it has been on my mind-- Hey thanks everybody for all the thumbs-up (not “thumbs-ups,” right?)…. much appreciated. And fun to hear your voices again! But I need to clarify one important thing, re Jerald’s original shout-out: That prestigious honor is for the school and its staff, not those of us who pop in for a few hours a week. I’m very fortunate to have the opportunity to be a small part of what they have cooking now. And I’m one of a little gang of arts educators who are in that school every week; when we met for orientation, it was the first time in all my years in the schools that I’d found Shakespeare sitting right alongside orchestra, photography, fairy tale theater, ballet, and piano lessons (the latter for children with an incarcerated parent). I step gingerly past two dozen ukuleles every day on my way up to fourth grade classrooms. I don’t stand out when I walk into the office to sign in — and often I have to wait behind the two young people toting their viola cases. It’s wonderful. I hope someday every school I visit is like that. The Blackshear teachers who work with those students all day, and work with their parents, and try to squeeze in as much real learning as they can while being told from upon high what to teach and when — those folks are the real heroes. I remember what a tough day at Blackshear took out of you (I was 38 at the time, just a kid) and I honestly don’t think I could survive it now. Just for starters, the drive I make from one school to another is a break those teachers never get. Second important thing I need to say….: Carl, re your loving comment, you ALL care that way. (Okay, yes, except for maybe Donald Trump. And those knuckleheads in the Texas Legislature… and....) I’m starting with everyone on this list and that’s a lot of people. And then I would spread that outward to all of your close friends and family members. I know for a rock-solid fact that every one of you carries through your daily life that same spirit of courage and devotion and generosity that you shared with your classmates and the community and the audiences in your time at Winedale. I saw it alive in every one of you in the reunion group. We saw it in Lou and Gabe and Hutch. And all of us saw it in Doc, who devoted hours and hours of his time over the past year to make that week possible and made every moment count and inspired us (again — and how fortunate we are, all these years later) to do the same. We remember it in those who were not able to be there for that gathering. And there are real heroes among us who are not glimpsed fleetingly in tv news reports. Not all of you may know that Jeff Larsen is an immigration lawyer in Houston. Talk about someone in the trenches and fighting the good fight. Then there’s the guy whose sitcom could be called, “Five Ain’t Enough,” because at an age when I’m ready to collapse as a father of two, he and his wife adopted a young boy and made him the sixth and littlest of the Little-Meyers. Then there are those of you caring for a parent or sibling or friend in failing health, physical or emotional. Artists overcoming endless obstacles to hold the mirror up to nature. The team bringing The Play’s the Thing to young patients at Dell Children’s Hospital. And on and on. So don't get me started on the rest of you. You all give your all in your work and life, I know that to be true. And when you can’t for whatever reason, you fight like hell to get back to being able to give it again. That’s why it’s really an honor to be considered a friend by all of you. I really feel what I’m doing in the schools is attempting to share something of what we all discovered out at Winedale together. For whatever reason, this is the way I’m able to offer it. And I know each of you does that every day, in your own utterly original way. That’s why the sparks fly when a bunch of us get back together. We want to make something happen. We know what can happen in a week. Doc taught us that decades ago and yes we still burn. What I was lucky enough to find when I began doing this work 25 years ago in the Seattle area is that there are kids who are thirsty for this experience, just like we were. It’s a real privilege to be able to help bring it to them in whatever way I can, for however many hours a year I can. Some are low-income, others are not. But they dive into it joyfully. I think they need it, just like we did. Something in them responds to the invitation. The invitation started with Miss Ima and it’s still going, in all of us. cheers, cs
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