Working with students and teachers so far in 2025

I just finished three weekends in a row with teachers and students-  Mississippi MMEA keynote speaker for middle school, Louisiana District choir, and Virginia District Choir.  

Working and helping children.... the teachers who teach them and the parents who love them to experience moments of joy singing.

I'm not gonna lie y'all.

I'm an out old gay man (since 1982 when I was 18...here is my story) who books a year in advance to work with middle school children who want to sing after teaching them in public school since 1989.

I am thankful to get to continue to connect with the age group...it's my lane, and I try to stay in it.  

-----

When the election happened in November of 2024, I had already been booked in Mississippi, Louisiana and a rural part of Western VA...

....and I started to question myself.

Do I need to be different when I'm doing these events?

Do I need to filter and not be me?

What if the children go back and tell their parents I said "My husband and I" or that I talked about the AIDS epidemic and how it impacted me if we sing "No Day But Today" from Rent.

Then I realized that the teachers who book me are the ones doing the work and who want me there.  the ones who know that I have been out online forever and ten days watching me share my work...to be in front of the children they teach and love.

Choir classrooms have always been a safe space.

It should still be that way...now and always.  

I forgot it as I questioned myself. 

Let's all remember...

The kids love you because you are being YOU.

They look to us to lead while we are teaching them music because it is their safe space...and because music and singing will give them so much joy when they aren't able to process the world around them, and it will help them stay on this planet and bring good things to the future generations while they are navigating their own paths here on this planet.