Music Explorers, vol. XII, the final volume

Oh, how time flies. It's already December 5, which means tonight was the night I said goodbye to this project, which feels like an entire chapter of my life.

Our plan tonight didn't differ too greatly from last week, except it was a Holiday Edition. We started with the 19 kids (to 9 volunteers) making nametags on paper shaped like ornaments. Stickers, people. The key is stickers. Those kids went BATTY for them.

Then, we set them up in groups and divided the "Twelve Days of Christmas" verses among them and sang it through a couple times, with everyone having a moment to shine by singing their verse and doing a movement that went with their number. Too hilarious, especially because the version we sang along to seems to have been the Muppets.

That part of the agenda ended up taking up a lot of time, so we reviewed "Jingle Bells" and "Deck the Halls" and "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," so they all could bellow at the top of their lungs, mostly. Their assignment again was to perform their own versions of one of these songs, to be judged American Idol-style.

There was some inspired choreography, some impressive solos, but the winning group was the one who performed a "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" and "Feliz Navidad" remix. 'Nuff said.

During snack, I thanked all the kids for having taught me so much and told them they could really do whatever they set their minds to. At least they were quiet while I talked; that's about as much as I could have ever wished for.

I come away from this project with confidence that I've picked the right career path, despite all the frustrations, head- and footaches. This has been an absolutely invaluable experience. I hope one or two of the children I've met in the last 7 months reflects on it in the same way, someday.