Abundance

I knew I had to share these as my holiday wishes to you all. But I had a few false starts on my written intro (which, you predicted correctly, would have been
l--o--n--g). I opt to just paste in one of the love notes I've sent out with this video in the past week. Other notes went to other teachers, some to the kids who surrounded Addie and lent a respectful, warm hand in friendship. This note of thanks went to the gym, art and music teachers who produce the show, but who also were named when I asked afterwards who was accountable for ensuring Addie reached to high expectations for this event.

Each grade celebrated a different holiday tradition from around the world. First grade did Hanukkah. Enjoy the videos and a bit about her dance partner at the end.

Miss S, Mrs. M and Mrs. R -

The Festival of Lights was just spectacular. I loved every second of it (particularly the 4th grade - and as the mother of a 6th grader, I've been to a few of these shindigs before Addie), though I would not be qualified to write a review since I only had eyes for one lady in turquoise and braids during the 1st grade part. I was floored by how well that particular lady did throughout the entire thing, how I never saw another adult standing sentry over her, how her friends encouraged her along and mostly - how she seemed to thoroughly adore participating in the whole thing. Though I had a few clues earlier in the week, I asked Lynn who applied their creativity to help Addie be the best Addie for the show. And she named the 3 of you.

Thank you so much for this gift. I know you all devote energy to the entire beautiful production, but I also know it took a little extra energy to get my blondie to not only engage in it, but love it. I have watched the video probably 40 times since last Friday and I still get a little emotional every time.

I think I understand you'll have to forward this to your home email address to view the video (youtube blocked from school?), but I hope you can watch and feel proud. I hope you can imagine the ripple effect on Addie's traction in the school community and beyond.

Attaching the final run through and the am performance here. They both have their varied surprises in them (like the obviously bored partner-less kid in the striped shirt in the 2nd one - cracks me up), so I send them both.

Happy, peaceful, joyful holidays to you. And thank you for all you do.

Cheers,
Terri and Addie's whole family


Rehearsal:


Morning Performance:


Addie's dear friend and dance partner is none other than Carl. Carl has been mentioned many times here on FJC, most recently here: Signs.
Doubt not - his mother got an immediate and straight-up gushy note of cheers about how he consistently shares his joy of life with his friend Addie. Within Carl's mom's gracious response she shared his explanation on why he was glad to be matched with his old pal for the dance: "she likes a lot of the stuff I like, even though she's a girl."