Brad Smith has gotten the go-ahead for the Wild Waves trip on Jun 18. The cost will be $36, which covers discounted admission, bus transportation and lunch: a choice of hamburger, chicken strips or pizza, all with beverage. The park does not allow sack lunches. Buses leave Eckstein at 9:30, return at 2pm. We need 6 adult chaperones, who will get free admission, but no free lunch (Food concessions are open on the park grounds). Chaperones need to fill out a criminal background check form, which also has information on chaperone responsibilities. Brad has the chaperone form and Wild_Waves_Field_Trip_Permission_form. Please contact Brad or me, Tom Dziekonski at tomvirgdz@yahoo.com if you’d be interested in chaperoning. All forms are due on Jun 11.
All of the orchestras received the top “Gold” rating–so we have four trophies for that–and the Seniors received the “Washington Orchestra Cup” which was the top award of the day reflecting the best performance.
Mr. Smith
All orchestra students will be attending this festival for 1 day on March 12, 2010. They go to Bellingham WA by charter bus and have scheduled performance times. This is followed by a critique by one of the adjudicators. The students hear performances by other schools. Awards are presented later. Some students may attend master classes too. More details to come… Field_Trip_Permission_Slip
The Orchestra Greenery fundraiser was a great success. Thank you to all the families and friends of the Orchestra that participated this year.
We hope everyone enjoys their wonderful wreaths, swags, and garland.
Happy Holidays.
Bill Trettenero
Mr. Sah is a private music teacher who will be assisting Mr. Smith until the end of October but he will also be coming to our camp outs later on. More about Mr. Sah can be found here.
If you are a parent of an Eckstein Orchestra student and you would like to receive Orchestra event information by e-mail and are not currently on the e-mail list, please e-mail Arlene Hing-Loh at loha5555@yahoo.com to be put on the e-mail list.
If you are currently receiving e-mail and you would like to be removed from the list please let her know that as well.
Thank you,
Congratulations to our director Brad Smith for his selection as one of six teachers recognized as a “Teacher Who Makes a Difference”. This award is sponsored by Sylvan Seattle and KING 5 TV. Brad will be recognized in a 15-second vignette to be aired over the next several months. Please take time to let Mr. Smith know how proud we are of his accomplishment!
The film clip will be shown on KING 5, KONG and NW Cable News, starting Feb 25. This clip features many of his students so you might want to tune in — official Teachers Who Make a Difference site can be found here.
From parent Janice Hall:
For 5 years and two children, I have been involved with the Eckstein orchestras. During my tenure, I have enjoyed many concerts and I have been particularly amazed with the repertoire and performance of all of the orchestras.
I have listened to 6 graders start out at the first concert playing twinkle variations to this same orchestra playing lovely classical music at the next concert. I have listened to Mr. Smith say nothing but wonderful things about all of his students. How talented they are, how willing they were to work on difficult pieces and how their success is really due to their hard work.
I have also seen Mr. Smith teach his students how to be good orchestra citizens by having a dress code that shows professionalism (including Mr. Smith always wearing a tuxedo), encouraging students to listen to the other groups play and encouraging teamwork and mentoring.
As my older daughter moved on to high school, the reoccurring theme with her and her Eckstein orchestra friends is that Mr. Smith was the best orchestra teacher they have every had. His faith in their ability to play, his choice of challenging pieces that keep them engaged and his never ending supply of crazy antics to keep their attention during class, has set the standard which they hold for other teachers to live up to.
Congratulations Mr. Smith and thank you!
