4 MyConnection | Wednesday, March 6, 2013
School Connection
A Thunderous Time Annual diversity program celebrates talents, differences By Nicole Golden nichole@newnan.com
The rousing performance of the Ugandan Thunder African Children’s Choir was the highlight of the annual Diversity Program at Arnall Middle School in Newnan in February. Students and staff members were invited to dance alongside their new friends at the end of the performance of an African drum song, an Exodus dance and “God Bless Uganda, and God Bless This Land.” The theme of this year’s program was “Our Different Talents Make the World a Better Place.” The program opened with the National Anthem, and then a parade of flags. Arnall students presented flags and spoke a greeting in the corresponding native language. Pastor Tamarkus Cook of St. Smyrna Baptist Church presented words of encouragement to the students. “Diversity promotes humanistic values,” said Cook. He noted that the world would not be an exciting place if we all did the exact same things for the exact same reasons. “Embracing differences is the sign of a cultured individual,” said Cook. The local creative dance group Final Breakthrough Dance Ensemble presented “Take Me to the King.” Group member Hadiya
Harden is an eighth-grade student at Arnall. Students Zyon Brock and Hope Kjar were soloists, and Lauren Cook played a piano piece. The Arnall Chorus also took part in the program, singing “We are The World.” A perfectly still audience listened as Ted Moody, director of the Ugandan Children’s Choir, spoke about the group and their home, the Royal School & Orphanage in Mityana, Uganda. “They are wonderful, precious children,” said Moody. The orphanage is home to 652 children, half of whom are orphans due to losing parents to malaria or other illness. Some of them have been abandoned. Moody told the Arnall students that the Ugandan children have no televisions, video games, or phones. “They have none of the things that you think you need to be happy,” he said. “It’s in yourself.” The children’s choir is halfway through an 11-month tour of the United States and will perform at Dollywood in March. During their enthusiastic performance, the Ugandan children invited staff members, including Principal Jan Franks and willing students, to join them on the gym floor for dancing. The singers were praised with thunderous applause and cheering. Afterwards, choir members
visited classrooms so that students could learn more about their culture. The choir was to perform at Arnall last year but, due to visa issues, the visit came a bit late. The school’s program was coordinated by Mrs. Jill Alford, social studies teacher, and a committee of faculty members. “We are so blessed today,” said Franks upon wrapping up the Diversity Program. She encouraged her students to embrace differences in others. “Sometimes that’s difficult in middle school,” said Franks. She noted that the Ugandan children had arrived earlier than most of the students that morning by bus. “They were already smiling and ready to go,” she said. Their attitude is a great example, noted Franks. “Be that positive spark,” said Franks. “Celebrate diversity instead of ridiculing it.” Editor’s note: Learn more about Ugandan Thunder at penniesforposho.org — an organization that helps feed the hungry children of Africa.
Traditional drum songs were part of the Ugandan Thunder performance at Arnall Middle School.
The Ugandan Thunder African Children’s Choir visited Arnall Middle School in Newnan in February. The group has more than 20 members between the ages of 10 and 13. They are students at the Royal School and Orphanage in Mityana, Uganda.
Running Out of Time
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here is an uneven sound throughout our casa this week. It’s like listening to some rock band and you know something is missing. And it finally hits you there’s no guitarist. What’s missing around here is the Eldest SON of Thunder. And I realized this week that lack of sound will continue to occur more and more. And I realized I am running out of time. Eldest is off on a mission trip with his youth group. They are not doing the normal Mexico visit, but are staying closer to home, actually just up the road a bit. Eldest and others are staying at an inner city shelter in Atlanta, working with the homeless. It was his decision. In fact, the Little Black Dress and I didn’t even know about it; he brought it up. And so we read the flyers about the program, run through the Atlanta Dream Center. “This program offers adults and teens from across the country an opportunity to experience inner-city ministry first hand. During this urban mission trip, participants will have the chance to feed the homeless, connect with kids and teens, reach out to those trapped in sex slavery, experience community living, and much more. Those who come will not only make a lasting impact on Atlanta’s poverty stricken communities, they themselves will experience lifechange as they grow as individuals and a group.” As I read that, several things popped into my head. That as the greatest and richest country in the world, we have homeless people in one of the biggest cities in America. Yes, I know we have homeless, always will. But why? It also hit me that Eldest was willing to give up a week of zombie killing to go hang out with kids more familiar with real guns than what they can buy with points earned from completing some waypoint on a video game. And it hit me that Eldest, despite not yet having a driver’s license, is growing up. And I am running out of time. He called earlier in the week. The Dress said you could hear the excitement in his voice. Eldest had met a friend. I never got the friend’s name, but learned quite a bit. He was a tattoo artist, and Eldest went into great detail about the tattoos on his face, which apparently the artist had done himself. Eldest never quite pinpointed why the
John Winters
artist was homeless, something about being robbed and losing everything. And they apparently just hung out and talked. I’m guessing they talked until the artist was overwhelmed. Eldest can out talk The Dress, which is saying something. And as The Dress was relaying the conversation, I realized Eldest is experiencing a side of life previously foreign to him. His only contact with tattoo artists was when he decided to draw a moustache on one of his younger brothers. There are few things in the world that really work as advertised. Let me assure you when the marker says “permanent,” trust it. Short of a sandblasting, it took days to get that off. Eldest is growing up and I’m running out of time. The cliche is moms try to keep their kids from experiencing too much too fast. Dads are pushing for them to experience more and quicker. This was the first time Eldest has been gone this long. And his first foray into leaving the nest wasn’t the grandparents, or summer camp, but hanging with the homeless and sleeping in a dorm. I texted a few times and would always get short, one- or twoword responses. Not like him, but he explained he was busy. I am running out of time. Soon he will be gone for longer stretches, like college. And soon, he will leave the house for good. And I’m not ready. There is so much I think I still need to teach him, to show him, to guide him on. And I worry if he will be ready, if I’ve done my job as a dad. I am running out of time. And yet I take great comfort in the fact Eldest decided he’d rather hang with the homeless and do what he can than spend his winter vacation killing zombies or building new worlds on Minecraft. And so my goal is to continue to use what time I have left to help the SONs find God’s purpose for them, which to me is one of the most important things a dad can teach.
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