I am the K-8 Music Teacher at St. Malachy Parish School in Brownsburg, IN. Last week, we held our annual 4th/5th Grade concert. Our students sang various folk songs, played instruments, and even performed a folk dance. But the unique, and probably most exciting and rewarding aspect of this concert for our students is that we hosted the Middle School/High School Choir from the Indianapolis School for the Blind and Visually Impaired to perform on our concert. We sang our songs, they sang theirs, and then we closed the concert by performing two songs together.
This concert has been a joint effort between our two schools for the past several years. A couple of years ago, we decided to have the students be pen pals. So, each year, as the time for the concert approaches, pen pals are assigned, and our students write to each other. This has been such a wonderful experience for all of the students. The St. Malachy students are so excited receive letters in Braille (transcribed by their teachers) or large font, and the ISBVI students are thrilled to receive those from St. Malachy.
As the evening of the concert approaches, the excitement builds as the students anticipate meeting and talking to their pen pals before the concert begins. For my students, this is always the most exciting part of the evening. Last week I was so touched by how accepting and caring the students were of each other when they finally met – it was truly heartwarming. Here are some of the comments made by some of my 4th grade students as they reflected on the experience a couple of days after the concert. “I was surprised by how much they know and do.” “It was nice to realize people aren’t always just what’s on the outside.” “You understand that with determination you can do anything.” “It seems like they aren’t really blind.” “I saw how lucky I am to be able to see.” “I felt sad that he had to work extra hard.” [I will always remember] “how beautiful we sang together.”
These young students modeled for me how Christ desires us to accept and love each other, and how St. Benedict instructs us to treat each other as Christ. How different our world would be if we could all respond to those different from us in such a caring way. That night I understood more clearly why Jesus tells us that we must become like little children in order to enter into the kingdom of heaven.
