Ashley had a pretty good week. First off, she auditioned for the extra-curricular Pop a cappella group at her school and made it! These groups are not easy to get into; there are many more applicants than spaces. She had to prepare to sing a selection from a pop song, sing scales, etc. The audition process is enough to scare me off. This year, she originally didn't have room in her schedule for choir, but she ended up changing her schedule around for the very purpose of wanting to be in one of these singing groups at school. Anyways, she is now officially a Soprano 2 in
Voice Activated (Blue) a cappella group at her school. She has rehearsal twice a week after school which will just add to her already busy schedule but it makes her happy, so you do what you do. (Although I will say it would be nice if she could drive herself back and forth from the school all the time!) I'm looking forward to their first performance, they are singing
Landslide by Fleetwood Mac,
Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol, and
Fly by Nicki Minaj. Should be fun.
The next bit of good news is that she was selected to the Student Leadership Initiative Program. Each high school in the surrounding counties can send five students (Sophomores) to participate. You have to be nominated to even apply, from there you have to complete a big written application with open response questions and be interviewed. The school accepted 20 applicants this year and Ashley was one of the 5 selected. This program looks really interesting. Once a month she and other kids from other schools spend a whole school day doing service and leadership activities. The purpose is to help the kids develop leadership and problem-solving skills while serving the community. Anyway, very proud of her. A good thing was that almost all her close friends were also nominated which in class of 600+ kids it tells me that she has the right kind of friends. For her, it was a weird situation of being happy to have friends to go through the process with while at the same time competing against them for the available spaces.
As Ashley, is getting involved in more activities, etc. I am starting to see that one of her strengths is interviewing. She's a talker and pretty comfortable speaking to adults which I think is what really helps set her apart from other kids her age. Also, I am pretty sure that all the interviews, meetings and talks she gives at church has really helped her in this area and given her lots of practice.
The final bit of good news is that she also started her first ever paid job. She is a referee for Wheatland Athletic Association. She refs the youth recreational soccer games on Saturdays. It's a pretty good gig for someone who is not yet 16. She only does it on Saturdays during the Spring and Fall, which works perfectly because in the winter she will be busy with the bowling team. Another nice aspect is that you give them the times you are available and then they schedule you based on that, so it's very flexible. And the pay is more than minimum wage, another thing that's hard to beat. She refereed 4 games as a linesman and really enjoyed herself even though she got a sunburn on her face. Anyways, it will be great for her to handle the responsibility of working and earning her own spending money.
