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IC NEWSLETTER -
SPRING 2009
6
Feature
On December 19
th
, the IC senior Choir
and the Little Cherubs (first and second
grades) marched onto the AUB Assembly
Hall stageanddeliveredaheartwarming
Christmas concert for the benefit of
Ayadina and Toufoula Associations. The
audience cheered them enthusiastically.
Choir members looked back grinning
widely. Some joined the choir to make
friends, others to fit in somewhere and
some just loved to sing. But unknown to
them, the lessons they learned went well
beyond just singing. Twenty years ago,
best sellingauthor Robert Fulghum listed
the lessonshe learnedfromkindergarten.
It will be years before IC choir members
realize they have learned theirs.
Listen to others
“You can’t sing your part if you’re not
listening to the others,” continuously
repeatsRandaSabbah, headof theMusic
Department. “You must harmonize and
blend.”
Get along
When the voices are first put together,
the choir becomes a battlefield of
characters. “Each group wants to only
hear themselves so they become louder
and louder,” said Sabbah. “And it takes so
much time to tell them that this is not
the time to overpower each other.”
You can’t reach the top by yourself
Students first join wanting to sing solos.
They want to shine without the others.
“And I say no,” said Sabbah. “You have to
learn to sing as a group. You can only
shine when others are together. If you
cannot sing by the rules of the choir,
then how can you sing on your own?
First we live in a community then we
stand out on our own.”
Unite
We all need each other. The sopranos
need the altos and the altos the tenor
and bases. “Once the students were able
to hear each other, it suddenly dawned
on them that together they can produce
a beautiful piece,” said Sabbah.
Discover and explore your potentials
When small children first join the choir
they come with their ‘baby’ voices. And
they discover that just by changing the
shape of their mouth and lips, they can
produce other sounds. “The look on their
faces is pure amazement,” said Sabbah.
Smile away your fears
The Little Cherubs looked frozen at the
sight of the audience in front of then.
“Then everything I said suddenly dawned
on them,” recalled Sabbah. “They then
assumed theproper posture. They smiled.
They knew they were performing.”
Help others
When the LittleCherubs first got together
earlier this year, the boys were reluctant
to sing. The girls – at their own initiative
– held out the script to the boys and
whispered in their ears the written words.
And during the performance, one child
mistakenly put his arm up at the wrong
moment. The child standing next to
him, quickly and efficiently grabbed the
stretched arm and pulled it down. “They
help each other by instinct,” said Sabbah.
“This is something amazing about kids.”
Look, look, look
“When I’m teaching and during
performances, I give physical and visual
cues so if they’re not watching they
would miss their cues,” said Sabbah.
Overcome your shyness
One little girl was so shy to sing in front
of an audience that she didn’t want to
show up for the performance. But once
on stage, the girl erupted into a smile
and joined in.
“You can overcome your fear of stage,
your fear of not being able to perform,
fear of singing right or wrong because in
a group you’re supported,” said Sabbah.
“And choir is a group.”
All I really wanted to know
I learned at the IC Choir
Share everything.
Play fair.
Don’t hit people.
Put things back where you found
them.
Clean up your own mess.
Don’t take things that aren’t
yours.
Say you’re sorry when you hurt
somebody.
Wash your hands before you eat.
Flush.
Warm cookies and cold milk are
good for you.
Live a balanced life - learn some
and think some and draw and
paint and sing and dance and play
and work every day some.
Take a nap every afternoon.
When you go out into the world,
watch out for traffic, hold
hands, and stick together.
Be aware of wonder.
Remember the little seed in the
styrofoam cup:
The roots go down and the plant
goes up and nobody really knows
how or why, but we are all like
that.
Goldfish and hamsters and white
mice and even the little seed in
the Styrofoam cup - they all die.
So do we.
Think what a better world it
would be if all - the whole world -
had cookies and milk about three
o’clock every afternoon and then
lay down with our blankies for a
nap. Or if all governments had a
basic policy to always put thing
back where up their own mess.
All I Really Need To Know
I Learned In Kindergarten
-excerpt by Robert Fulghum