Opera Success

The trip to the Opera was a total success!  The kids had so much fun.  All of them enjoyed it - some of them LOVED it... like, have not stopped talking about it, want to go back.  There were a couple girls who, when I asked what their favorite part was, replied "The whole thing!"  (in wide-eyed wonder).  I didn't tell them much about going (bad teacher!)  but it ended up working out because, as one student put it, "It was like a big surprise!"  in fact, I found out after the show that most of them were expecting just singers, or a choral concert setup.  They had no idea it would be more like a play, with a storyline, costumes, and scenery.  By the way, I found out that our tickets (main floor) were going for $247.00 each for the general audience evening performance that weekend... when I told the kids, one said "Girrrrl, that is the down payment on a car!"

On a different note, some of my students (who have grown up in the city of Chicago their entire lives) had never been downtown.  When one student told my mom this (she was a chaperone), she said she almost started crying.  You might have thought we were from Kansas- they were staring at the big buildings and asking if we could come downtown to just walk around again.

"Kia - smile!"  "Ms Cook, I don't smile for pictures."

Some of the group waiting for the bus... It broke down and I had to change routes last minute.  Yikes!

You should have seen the bus driver's face when my 20 students got on the already-full bus.  :)

All the kids outside the opera house before the show.

I told a few of them to walk to the front and look up so they could see how huge the theater is.

a bad picture, but the view from the front of the theater looking back at all the seats. 

Dinner at Pizano's