playing drums People heard us but they weren't staring at us I mean who practiced in the very back of the band room each day And who stood in the back row at concerts The percussion section that's who That was just the way I liked it Mr Byrd held up his hands and the applause died down Section leaders please warm up your groups while I go over a few things with the committee he said Then he turned to us You may be wondering why I selected you all
I am I said I don't know the first thing about the theater So Mr Byrd said that Miles had pizzazz Hope brought order to the band Sherman's energy was catching Colby was creative And that left me Carmen you're our glue Mr Byrd said That means you're sticky Sherman said Sort of It means Carmen holds things together Mr Byrd explained She not only keeps a steady beat with her drum but she's steady in her
interactions with the rest of the band Sometimes people like that are called peacemakers He smiled Every committee needs a peacemaker That made me blush all over again I was relieved when Hope raised her hand moving the attention off of me Yes Hope Mr Byrd said What exactly will we be doing Mr Byrd pulled out a pamphlet Big bold letters across the front asked the question What's Your Holiday Beneath that were pictures of different kids Some celebrated Hanukkah Others celebrated Christmas Ramadan or Kwanzaa What's this holiday Sherman asked pointing to one of the photos I knew That one is called Ramadan It's a holy month for Muslims You're right Carmen Mr Byrd said It's based on the lunar calendar so it falls on different dates each year
Miss Delgado said in science class that lunar means moon Hope said Mr Byrd nodded Ramadan ends with a three day festival called Eid-al-fitr where Muslims have special prayers and meals Sometimes they exchange gifts too Cool Sherman said It was cool But I wasn't sure yet if this theatrical production would be I've never acted in a play before I said then That's fine because you won't actually be acting Mr Byrd said The theater has already held auditions and both kids and adults from across the community have been selected for those roles But the director Mrs Dillingham hoped adding music to the production would add to the holiday vibe That's where you come in Check this out Mr Byrd handed each of us the production's script Sections were highlighted and notes were written in the margins Stuff like Insert song here
