Dorene's Christmas Concert

Tuesday night was Dorene's Christmas concert at Warren Primary Center. This year was different because for the first time since becoming a teacher, Dorene was doing a program with elementary kids instead of middle school.

As usual, Dorene put together one heck of a program. I, of course, am a little bias but she is one of the top directors in the South Bend school corporation. But, she really puts on a great program. It's never one of the cheesy little affairs, she goes all out. This year, she received tons of accolades from her principal, who said that in the days following the program, she received a non-stop stream of visits and phone calls from parents praising the program. But of course, Dorene only puts on the best. The thing is, those accolades mean nothing to her. Of course they are nice, but it isn't what drives her. Okay, yeah, a big part of it is confidence (she knows she's good!).

This year, the 3rd and 4th graders put on a full-fledged production called "It's Christmas, Carol." It's a modern day retelling of, well, of course you know what it's about. For the lead was this little dynamo named Autumn Martin. I mean, wow, she was really, really good. Tons of lines, lots of stage movement, even a solo. She nailed every bit of it. This is one talented girl and just a delight to watch on stage. She has a little sister, Jenna, that was part of the 2nd grade choir (prior to the above production were a couple songs by the kindergarten choir and 1st/2nd grade choir).

After the production was over, the evening ended on a rather poignant note. Dorene had all those that have family serving in the military stand and be recognized (there were a lot). Then, we had a powerpoint presentation of a marine sergeant named Matt Martin who is stationed in Iraq, which was done as a tribute to all those that will be missing family members this holiday season due to military service.

You see, Matt is Autumn's dad, so he couldn't be here that night to see his little girl wow the crowd. There were pictures of him in uniform and then several photos of him with his wife and two girls. You know, sort of puts the war in a little bit more perspective when you have this kind of connection. Seeing pictures of Autumn and Jenna cuddled up to him like he's the greatest person on earth, I just pray that Matt is able to come home safely to be with his little girls someday. Autumn is just one year older than Anna, so I can relate in a big way. Initially Dorene was going to try and do a live hook-up with him, but he was to be off on a mission that day, so it wasn't possible. Like I said, puts everything in a little more perspective when you can put a face on the soldiers over in Iraq and wonder, like pretty much all of America, why they are still there and is it all worth it.

The gymnasium was packed out for the program. For the spring, Dorene will have to move the program to the high school auditorium. She's set the bar way up there now, so people will certainly come in the spring with high expectations, which Dorene will deliver on.