Fast forward about six months and Jennifer comes home from school one day announcing that she wants to go to Pebblebrook High School. After I picked my jaw up off the floor, I asked Jennifer what she was talking about and did she know that Pebblebrook was on the OTHER side of the county?? She explained that they had a speaker that day who talked to all the 8th grade students at her school about magnet schools and what magnet schools were available to them. I had heard of a magnet school but didn't know hardly anything about them. After doing some research, as it turns out Cobb County has about 6 magnet programs scattered throughout the county. I was amazed to learn that we have programs for math, science, international studies, technology, research and medical sciences, and of course performing arts.
And so our quest started. We were trying to get as much information as possible on the program and the school and how it all worked. As it turned out, the county provides bus transportation to the magnet schools, just like they do for regular schools. And the Pebblebrook bus picks up right near our house- within walking distance if necessary. That was a shocker for sure and eased the transportation concern that I had. I really couldn't believe that she could catch the bus so close to our house.
All of the magnet programs had an open house in the Fall. Obviously, we needed to go to that to get some information. I was disappointed that Pebblebrook's wasn't at the school like all the others. After all, I really wanted to check out the school and the location, which was a concern for me. For some weird reason, Pebblebrook's open house was at the Cobb County Civic Center. So, we headed down there and was surprised to learn that we got free tickets to the show that they were performing that night. Dale, Jennifer, Justin, Chelsea (Jenn's friend), and I went in and watched the show and then they had the 8th graders stay afterwards for Q&A and a reception on the stage. Let me just be honest here and say -That we were ALL BLOWN AWAY!!! When we were signing in, the guy told us that we would be really impressed and I thought "Well, that's setting the bar high". But they exceeded all expectations by a MILE!!! I honestly had no idea how many really talented kids we had in our county, but when you get them all together....they can really put on a show. We all said we felt like we were on a cruise watching a professional production. One of the kids even joked that they could feel the ship rocking. In some ways, I thought they were better than some of the shows I have seen on cruises. The voices, the dancing, the choreography, the costumes, the props, EVERYTHING!!! They were amazing!! After the paying audience left, the students and parents moved down front to hear about the program and the process and meet some of the teachers, and all of the Company kids. They all introduced themselves, told us what their major and minor were, and where they went to middle school. These kids were from all over the county. The choices for major and minor (WHO KNEW?? NOT ME!! )were drama, vocals (singing), dance, and technical theater. So, while Jennifer and Chelsea went on stage to meet and mingle with the Company kids, I scouted the audience for a MOM who I could talk to one-on-one. I found a lady- bless her heart - who answered all my questions and gave me all kinds of information that I needed and talked to me for about 30 minutes. She introduced her son to us and Jennifer as I drilled her for more information.
When we left there, I asked the girls what they thought. With stars in both of their pretty eyes, they both said they were "SO GOING TO PEBBLEBROOK!" Chelsea is a dancer so that would be her major. Jennifer wanted to major in drama and minor in vocals. Later she thought about changing her minor to dance. They talked excitedly all the way back home while I pondered all of these things in my head. I had to admit if this was Jennifer's dream (and it is!) that this program would be BY FAR the best instruction she could get and it didn't cost any money. That was another big shocker. Apparently, Cobb has strong support for the arts and it is a public school like the others.
I did research online, talked to teachers, other parents, other kids that had been in the program, and even strangers that knew anything about the program. It was "funny" how I was running into people everywhere that had a connection to the program in some way or another. I spent hours talking to anyone who knew anything about the school and the program. Everyone raved about the program and what the kids learned. The list of places that their graduates were performing after graduation was amazing!! I learned of someone my own age who I went to school with before he transferred to Pebblebrook their first year and he is performing on a cruise ship right now. The only negative I heard was from the kids who go to Pebblebrook that aren't in the PA (Performing Arts) program. I get the sense that they don't feel they get the same attention and perks that the PA kids do. And the other negative was the location. I even talked to 2 police officers that work that area and they said they would be concerned if their daughter wanted to go there. Other than that, it was all positive.
Obviously we had many conversations and prayers over the decision to apply. On the one hand, it would be an awesome experience for her. But it would NOT be your typical high school experience at all. It will be extremely demanding and long days. She would still have to keep up her grades and take accelerated courses on top of the demands of plays and productions. She will have bus rides that average an hour EACH way every day. We learned that they sleep and do homework on the bus rides. There were just so many variables that played into the decision about whether to apply or not. We talked about how acting is a really hard field for Christians and whether she should pursue that. We talked about many things-from safety at school to the fact that this would lead her down a certain path. I knew how much this meant to her, and finally we just said that she could go ahead with the fairly grueling application process. And we started praying that God would either open or close the door for her since he was the only one that knew what her future held.
We went to 2 other Pebblebrook performances also. One was a Christmas production that was similar to the Rockettes show -again A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!!! And we also went to the school's black box theater for a play -The last night of Ballywho or something like that. They did a great job as well. And we even got free tickets compliments of the administrator.
To even apply, she had another meeting at school with the administrator. She had to complete an application, an artistic resume, 2 letters of recommendation, her attendance record for middle school , an essay that she had to write completely on her own about why she thought she would be a good match for Pebblebrook, and her transcripts showing her grades. The letters of recommendation had to be from an arts teacher and a regular teacher. They were very pointed questions asking some hard questions. They were to be sealed so the student had no idea what you wrote and then signed over the seal. Talk about security!! She got Mrs. Jeanette from CFT and her Spanish teacher to write the recommendations.
The next step after all that was turned in by the deadline was the audition. Mr. Timmerman was scheduled to come back to her school for anyone that wanted to audition. The date was set in January and Jennifer started the process of picking her monolouge. They were told that it had to be from a play and you had to do it all by yourself so that knocked out her original choice of the funeral scene in Steel Magnolias. She decided to do Eve in the "Children of Eden" in the garden talking to God after Adam dies. I kept asking if she was ready and she assured me that she was. When the time came, it was the week of the blizzard. They missed school that whole week! Jennifer was so disappointed that she couldn't go to school to audition.
They rescheduled and set it for Feb 10. Again, I kept asking if she was ready and she kept telling me that she was. A few days before the date, they started talking about snow again on that date. And guess what?? It snowed that Wednesday night again about an inch or two. Jennifer was having a fit!! And honestly I was ready for it to be done too. Thankfully, they went to school and she got to do her audition.
They had told them that there is no quota they are trying to fill. They don't have limited number of spaces, they are just looking for talent among other things. They said in general, that about 1 in every 3 who audition get accepted, so we knew it was going to be tough. Nine kids from Jenn's school ended up auditioning. Most were there for vocals, a few drama, and only one dancer- the only boy. Let's just say his chances of getting accepted were more than 1 in 3..closer to 98%. Jennifer said he did a great job. She said the audition went really well, but that she was surprised that she was nervous. I thought it was great that the kids got in a huddle and prayed before the audition started. She told me that she was nervous because she knew how important this audition was and that it would probably determine what path her future took in some way or another. She had auditioned before in front of much bigger crowds, although several of her teachers came in to watch and they all said she did great too. Then it was done....and we were told we would get a letter in the mail in 2-3 weeks letting us know the outcome.
We talked about it almost every day, and we both REALLY hoped that we would know something by the end of the month. I think Jennifer really needs some time to adjust her thinking if she wasn't going to be accepted. We also joked back and forth about me opening the letter before her, so that I could be prepared for either decision.
Well, today the letter was in the mail. I was so excited I couldn't stand it. I was going to be leaving about 10 minutes after Jennifer got home and was scared that if she wasn't accepted that she would be upset and I wouldn't want to leave her upset, so I waited until I got home a few hours later. As tempted as I was to open it, I didn't do it so I really didn't know whether she got accepted or not. So, I asked Jennifer to name 5 positives if she got accepted and 5 positives if she didn't get accepted before giving her the envelope. She figured out quickly that the letter was there and let out a loud scream. She was so nervous...well we both were. :)
She opened the letter, read it quickly, and screamed that she was accepted!!! She was shaking she was so happy. Here is a copy of the letter that brought my little girl SOO much joy:
And as it turns out, the letter was written ON her birthday and I can guarantee you that her birthday wish came true!!!
