a couple things that are still relevant

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By Joyce Szuflita
I just scrolled down to the bottom of this page and found my own blog archive!!
I started blogging around this time, 8 years ago and boy did (do) I need an editor! The nice thing about blogging is that you can write whatever the hell you damn well please. I was tickled by a couple of pieces (cause I think that I am kinda funny, much to my family's chagrin) and I was interested in my own perspective as a parent of 14 year olds, all those many years ago. Here are three of my favorites, that are still relevant and mildly amusing (even my husband said so!). Don't read the other first blogs. They are awful.
A wistful ode to 'rubber pellet season'
a sweet reminiscence (and creepy reference to cancerous recycled tires)

New Urban Team Sport (NUTS)
how I did the parent teacher conference

Sing is sung
a New York high school institution and my review of the 2008 season. If you want to understand the difference between Murrow and Stuy as institutions - it is all here.

2011 Stuyvesant Sing!

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By Joyce Szuflita
Seniors Win!

It was not a fait accompli. The first performance was an unmitigated disaster by all accounts but they tightened the timing and changed the ending and by the last night it was a rollicking good time!

At Stuyvesant there are 3 Sing! contenders, Frosh/Soph, Juniors and Seniors. The Frosh/Soph theme of "searching for a theme" may have proven to be too "meta", and the snappy little quest script was high jacked by a sub plot about the evil Juniors stealing their "Fairy Tale" premise and making it Junior Nursery Rhymes. Considering that they are just dipping their toes into this amazing tradition, they did admirably well.

The Junior's Nursery Rhyme show was full of clever scenery. Jack and Jill's house with the fall away front was very original. The singing was strong and the characters were clever (although I didn't figure out that the narrarator with the puffy pants sitting on the piece of "Alice in Wonderland Wall" was Humpty Dumpty). My bad. In the end, the pacing was just too slow and I never really got down to enjoying the ride.

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2011 murrow sing

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By Joyce Szuflita
When my kids were tiny and people used to say, "they grow up so fast!" I didn't know what the heck they were talking about. It was taking FOREVER! But now I get it. We just cleared another milestone, the last Senior/Fresh "Sing!" at Murrow. I have a terrible time trying to explain "Sing!" to middle school parents. It is a competition. It should really be called "Scream!". Depending on the school, it is two or three original nearly hour long student produced musicals which are judged and awarded bragging rights on the last night of performance. It is a super big deal.

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sing!

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Another Sing! season has come and gone and now we can get back to AP history and studying for the SAT. This year didn't disappoint. Sing! is a NYC high school institution, which started at Midwood HS in 1947. It is an original theatrical musical competition with teams from each class. Popular music is played by a live band with original lyrics along with student designed sets and costumes. Performances are judged and highly coveted bragging rights are awarded. I regularly attend the Sing! performances at Murrow and Stuy which have very different styles of performance.
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