A Priest Walks Into a Bar

I am going to attempt to put my own twist on the classic 'A Priest Walks Into a Bar' joke. Here's how it goes:

'A Polish Priest, a retired Polish French Teacher, and an American English Teacher 

walk into a middle school to judge an English-Song Singing Competition.'

The punch line? This is a true story. That's the punch line.

This week, I was asked to judge the annual English-Song Singing Competition at a local middle school. Sitting between a retired French teacher, who also happens to be one of my adult students, and a Polish Priest dressed in civilian garb, I witnessed young Polish students present well-practiced songs in English. I was told to judge their pronunciation and overall performance. Cue Simon Cowell reference here.

The performances ran the gamut from 'If You're Happy and You Know It' sung by the cutest 5 year-old you have ever seen, to Adele's 'Skyfall.' One of my own beloved middle school student's belted out Adele's 'Rolling in the Deep' so amazingly that I got goosebumps. I was most baffled by the performance of 'You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman' soulfully crooned by a mere 13 year-old girl. Needless to say, my jaw hit the floor more than once.

In the deliberation room, the Priest seemed to be running the show and he clearly knew who he thought should win. Despite my attempts to tell him who I thought was the best, he wouldn't waver. I gave in to his opinions fairly quickly, because really, who is going to argue with a priest who doesn't speak their language? Not this girl. Thereafter, the only time I opened my mouth was to put a delicious chocolate pastry into it.

Overall, I had a great time playing the token English speaker. The kids were great, and I admired their courage at even attempting to sing a song in a different language, let alone singing in a room full of their peers and one very opinionated Priest.