miguel chicas - Vocal specialist at Eastshore, Turtle Rock, and Beacon Park elementary Schools & Beacon Park MIDDLE School choir director

My favorite thing about returning to in-person instruction has been observing how students have handled school post online learning. I really am impressed with the resilience of this group of students. I am finding that this generation of students is willing to fight for what they believe is right. They challenge you and ask you questions that from my experience as a student, you were never allowed to ask or say to a teacher. But... 

...it has caused us to have conversations and encouraged me to think of really out-of-the-box ways to teach certain concepts or simply just get the students engaged. Other repertoire and things that have been very useful - both of my beginning ensemble and I have really enjoyed Cristi Cary Miller's two-part arrangement of My Heart Will Go On (Love Theme from "Titanic"). My advanced ensemble loves to sing Jacob Narverud's SSA arrangement of Speechless from Aladdin (the live-action movie). My elementary ensembles really enjoy getting to choose a school-appropriate song of their choice to listen to while we do our physical warm-ups.