Luke has had a great experience with the band program at his school. His music teacher is the type of teacher that inspires the kids to not just be good students but to be good people. I know Luke really admires Mr. Madsen and enjoys being in his class. To become first chair in an instrument, the students challenge each other. Luke was first chair for trumpet so he decided to challenge Mr. Madsen. Because the teacher can't really play first chair, the prize was conducting. Luke won the challenge so he got to conduct one of the songs at the final band concert. It was fun to watch him. He was nervous and was probably questioning if conducting was actually a prize but he did a good job.
Luke goes early to school, 7:00 am, three days a week for Jazz Band practice. It takes a lot of dedication on his part. He gets up and gets ready then wakes me up when it's time to go (it takes a lot of dedication on my part too!) I have to admit that I enjoyed those drives to school with Luke in the morning. The kids get so busy as they get older that one on one time with them becomes sparse. Luke's trumpet skills have greatly improved. James is always asking him to play Rocky and once in a while, Luke concedes and entertains us.
