Cue the "Full House" I've-learned-my-lesson music

I decided to blog about a particular incident that happened at school, because it seemed too scripted to be reality, when I'm pretty sure it was 100% real.

Before I go into the actual moment I'm talking about, you need the background information.

So 5th grade's Holiday Program is on 12/16. They're doing 3 songs:
1. Rudolph
2. Silent Night (Noche de Paz)
3. Deck the Hall

I'm using CDs from my textbook adoption that I've had for a few years, and using what's available to me in that collection. So this story really focuses on "Rudolph". As we all (should) know, "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" begins:

You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen... 

and goes on to list the rest of the reindeer before getting to good ol' Rudy. I had the idea of having a few kid soloists sing the introduction before the rest of the 5th graders sing all together. Well, I had 3 particular girls in mind I wanted to cast for the parts. So one day, earlier this week, we got all the 5th graders together, and I invited those interested in auditioning for the solos to come up and audition if they were serious. All 3 I thought would be the best bet came up...and so did 1 boy. I had them sing the part to the karaoke track in front of their peers, and they all did fairly well. So I had the contestants turn around while I took a popular vote from the audience of their peers, and in American Idol fashion the top 3 were chosen...and it ended up being 2 girls, and 1 boy.

So later, the one girl whom I thought would be a shoe-in that ended up not getting picked comes to music class. Upon asking the kids to get on the risers to rehearse, I noticed she was doing everything I asked except sing. So I had the others take a seat while I pulled her aside and spoke to her in private.

"Are you okay? Why are you not singing?"
"I don't want to be in the program after all."
"That's fine, I can't force you, but are you feeling this way because you weren't picked for the solo?"
"No."
"Are you sure?"
"Okay, yes."

Cue the music at the end of every Full House episode. 

The conversation moved to (I hate to admit) a few honest clichés that I ended up laying on her. I talked about how when we have the skills for a good job and we apply for it, 20 people could apply for the same job and only 1 person gets it. I referenced American Idol, how millions of people believe and want to do it so badly, but only 1 gets voted to stay at the very end, but it doesn't stop the rest of them from following their dreams and following their hearts in doing what they love to do. I showed her how it was exactly the same with how the voting results were for the Rudolph auditions, and that though she wasn't picked, she shouldn't let that stop her from singing if she really loved doing it. I told her how much I enjoyed listening to her which is why I wanted her to audition, that I needed her voice, and that the more people that came to sing the better the performance would be. In middle school, she could join choir and audition for more solos in the future.


"Okay, Mr. Hickey. I'll be in it," she said with a smile."

I gave her a hug, got her back on the risers, and she was singing again. I looked at her a few times while I was mouthing the words to the song as the kids rehearsed. I smiled seeing that she was singing, and she smiled back at me.The whole thing seemed too planned, scripted to be true. Nonetheless, I believe it was as real as the music we made together.

It was a great, raw moment of being a teacher, lifting a student out of self-pity and disappointment, and reminding them of the great future they had already.