Arts Academy at Bella Vista

I feel very blessed that as soon as I moved here I got introduced to the Arts Academy. As soon as I heard about it, I knew I wanted to work there and for the kids to go there. So, I went about trying to get my job. I was kind of a stalker, I probably went to meet the principal 3 or 4 times, just trying to catch her and make a good impression.

Finally I met her and got an interview. She was gonna make me come back and do a mock lesson for a group of teachers, but liked me so much that she called me back about an hour after the interview and offered me the job. :) I was so relieved!

Anyways, I was able to teach 3rd grade at the AABV for two years and loved it. Even with me not working there it was never a question that Christian would continue attending the Arts Academy.

The whole vision behind our wonderful school is that kids who are able to actively participate in the arts do better on tests, have greater academic achievement, and usually behave better because they feel good about themselves. So each morning the whole school eats breakfast in the cafeteria together and then sing and dance each morning to wake up our brains and bodies. Then we say our pledge of allegiance and New Mexico state pledge, then sing some patriotic songs, and have a moment of silence.

On Friday my school buddy Kirsten and I took our babies and visited good ol' AABV. Every Friday morning we have something called Breakfast with the Arts. That's where every class gets the opportunity to perform a song, dance, or whatever for the entire school. For example, one year my class rewrote the words to YMCA, we changed it to AABV, and we came up with a dance and everything - it was really cute!

Anyways, here are some pictures from Breakfast with the Arts.

Addie dancing with Christian.



Can you spot Christian with his head in his hands. He spotted the camera and tried to hide.



This one's called "Shed a Little Light." In the chorus everyone raises their arms, gospel style, and waves 'em in the air. I thought it was really bizarre the first time we sang it, but soon after that it became a fave.



Another wonderful thing about the Arts Academy is that they have so many opportunities to perform. Saturday they had a huge ethnic fair downtown Clovis on the "brick road." They invited the school to perform, but somehow nobody at the school knew about it until Friday so they decided to perform some of the morning songs.





And now for a movie. Here is one of the patriotic songs we sing most mornings. This is Celine Dion's version of God Bless America. Yes, Celine, the Canadian. Kinda ironic, but she's got a beautiful voice!


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

And just in case you want to learn more about our school, here's the link.

http://www.clovis-schools.org/bellavista/index.html