The choir collectively looked on in sadness as they were told the terrible news. Mr. Brown would not be returning to CHS.

For the last few years, the choir programs in the middle school and the high school haven’t exactly been thriving. There have been lots of teacher swaps, fewer kids signing up for classes, and more kids that only wanted the class on their schedule for an easy A. When the kids in the choir at CHS met Mr. Raynard Brown, we were all thrilled. He was a really stellar teacher.

He really had his students working hard, and his teaching was greatly appreciated. One of his mottos was as follows: there will be no usage of the f-word in his classroom, so he said it just once to get it out of the way. ‘Fun’. He wasn’t there to let his students have fun and do whatever they wanted, he was there to make his students work. And so they did. He was such a wonderful teacher, so many of his students had fun while they were working and making progress.

After the last concert, each student received an email from Mr. Brown which at the time was thought to be an innocent congratulations for our work at the concert. It detailed that he was proud of our work at the concert and how he was proud to have been our teacher. Later, students realized that the whole email was in past tense.

After a few weeks without a solid choir teacher, the choir kids knew that he wouldn’t be back for at least a little while. Then, Dr. Gutchewsky came in to talk to the class about the fact that Mr. Brown would not be returning to CHS. They were unable to disclose why Mr. Brown had left, but that is his own personals business. Most students felt that they had a strong student-teacher bond with Mr. Brown, and that just vanished into thin air. Regardless, the choir students got lucky with what happened next.

Ms. Pirrie was hired to be the long term sub. She has lots of experience and was quite welcoming to everyone into her new classroom. She created an environment where everyone felt respected, and continues to help the choir on fundamentals. She keeps the students working hard.

Ms. Pirrie brought with her rich choreography, plenty of singing techniques, anatomy of the voice, and so much more. Her knowledge and skills have been a benefit to the class. She is energetic and full of life, always ready to help her students improve.

Though the choir misses Mr. Brown, Ms. Pirrie has been a stellar addition to the choir program. Mr. Brown was finally starting to rebuild the program, and she is doing her best to keep up on what he started. So this story has a happy ending for now, but these events still beg one question;

Where is Mr. Brown now?