Since James joined our family I’ve still been teaching piano, but made the decision to cut way back on the number of students I see in a week.  So, last fall, I started up again with three very diligent high school girls.  We had our spring recital this past month as a culmination of their work this semester.  Two of the three girls just graduated from high school, so I may be adding a few more students this fall.

Emma, Abbie, & Julia

I’m going to brag on these young ladies a little.  All three of them are busy, high-school students who are involved in many activities.  Yet, they are committed to piano and learning as much as they can.  So, they practice hard, come to lessons prepared (most of the time) and are a joy to teach and work with.  Their families have become friends over the years and we are thankful to know them.

This also marks the end of an era for one of these girls.  I’ve been teaching Julia piano lessons for 10 years!  She began lessons with me as a third grader the first year I started teaching at ECA.  She’s now graduated from high-school and plans to continue a few lessons this summer before she heads off to college.

I’ve been teaching Emma piano for 3 years and she recently accomplished something amazing for a high-school student.  Last year before James was born, Emma (and her family) decided to perform a senior recital in conjunction with her home school high-school graduation.  We decided on her program of music, I typed up a list of technical “helps” for her to use while I was on maternity leave, and she diligently worked on her 8 pieces of music until we began lessons again last fall.  Since then she has continued her hard work and in May, the following Sunday after this recital, she performed her own concert at her graduation.  She did an amazing job and I’m so proud of her!  She also plans to continue a few lessons this summer before starting college in the fall.

Then there’s Abbie, who thankfully I’ll have one more year in piano.  She’s been in lessons for 4 years with me and has made wonderful progress.  I look forward to what she will accomplish her senior year!

Congratulations to all three students on a job well done!