The Ellen Show!

Courtney's orchestra teacher is a huge fan of the Ellen Show.  In December there was a contest by Scotch Tape where you had to do a creative wrapping job.  Mrs. Nielsen decided she wanted her kids to enter the contest, but she didn't tell them what contest it was or what they would get if they won.

She brought wrapping paper to orchestra class and had the intermediate orchestra kids wrap their presents.  Then for Ellen's birthday, they played her Happy Birthday and made a sign to send to her.  It was cute.

Over the Christmas break, they didn't hear any word about the contest.  But the week after they got back in January, the teacher received a call from one of the producers of the Ellen Show asking her questions and telling her they were a finalist for the contest.  The next day, the producer called the principal of the school and talked to her.  A few days later, the producer called Mrs. Nielsen and told her they would be flying her and her husband to LA to be on the Ellen Show.

This is where things got crazy.  Mrs. Nielsen flew to LA on Wednesday, that afternoon I got a call from the school saying that the intermediate orchestra kids were going to be on Ellen the next day and that I had to come into the school to sign a non-disclosure agreement.  And the kids were not to be told ANYTHING about what was going on.  I signed the form and kept my mouth shut.

Thursday afternoon, with about 10  minutes left in school, the intermediate orchestra students were called out of class and taken to a classroom where it was set up to film the show.  The kids were in shock!  They were able to watch the show and when Mrs. Nielsen was called up....well, you can watch what happened below.

It was crazy!!  The kids were so excited.  They haven't figured out what they are going to do with the money yet but something needs to happen soon because many of the kids are moving on to another school after May.  AWESOME!!