A Dedication

Dear you,

This post is dedicated to Mrs. Lowe. If you know her, consider yourself lucky. If you've been taught by her, you have something mighty special that not many people have under their belt. I was lucky enough to be with her for four orchestra classes and two fiddler classes and I am who I am today because of it.

I always knew she was special, but in just the few months since I've graduated high school it has become more and more apparent. She is certainly one of a kind. Mrs. Lowe had this way of mixing life lessons into the curriculum that still fascinates me. Not many teachers today will tell you about their grandparents hanging upside down at lunch time (true story) or the extreme importance of writing thank you notes (it may lead to the nice family silverware).

There were also the opportunities she provided for us. Because of her and her crazy resources (I do not know how this woman pulled off the stuff that she did) I have seen an opera (for free), done a workshop with Sybarite5 (http://www.sybarite5.org/), seen them perform, performed alongside famous fiddlers Jacqueline and Dudley Laufmen, and made so many amazing friends along the way.

But it wasn't just her funky/hilarious stories, and her crazy connections it was also her kindness. I have rarely seen a woman so in love with her students. You can just tell.

Orchestra, at least at my school, was a huge assortment of sports, art, weirdness, hottness, un-hottness (just made both those words up), and everything in between. It's a really cool thing to teach a discipline that brings all those different aspects of high school together so thoroughly. And she did, and still does.

High school sucks. Well, at least it did for me. My freshman and sophomore years were spent trying to figure out who I was, where I belonged. I wasn't unhappy, but I didn't feel like I really belonged anywhere. Junior year I started Fiddlers (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jbl67pk85BQ). That's when I started finding myself. Finding out who I was and who I wanted to be. This all thanks to Mrs. Lowe.

By my senior year I didn't feel really comfortable at school unless I was in the orchestra room (or the orchestra portable...sigh). It felt safe. And it was where I belonged. Mrs. Lowe continued to challenge us with music that I always thought was impossible the day she passed it out. Always. I'm not sure why I didn't catch on but every time we got a new piece I'd look at her like she was crazy. And within a few weeks I could see it start to take shape. Now, some of that may have had to do with the fact that we had some extremely talented players, but it also had a ton to do with the fact that Mrs. Lowe was one of the best orchestra teachers of this generation (and that's a fact).

So this, my little blog readers, is an ode to Mrs. Lowe. I, as well as countless other people I'm sure, would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for being the spectacular person that you are. Never forget how much you are changing the lives of your students everyday for the better. Thank you.

Sincerely, the violinist