Photo Source: Official Website Of Lannie Spann McBride

I woke up this morning singing, “I am a promise. I am a possibility. I am a promise with a capital ‘P’. I am a great big bundle of Po-ten-ti-ality…” It was a song taught to me by my G.N. Smith Elementary music teacher, Lannie Spann McBride. As I hummed the tune, an involuntary smile stretched across my face. I can still see Mrs. McBride in music class. She would often snatch her hands away from the piano between chords and motion with both hands, drawing a big smile across her face, instructing the class to smile as we sung -all without missing a beat. She told us that smiling affected the music. But in truth, as I’m sure she knew, it affected us more. It was her influence that led to my playing piano in elementary, violin in middle school and competing in classical voice as a junior and senior. Though my path would not ultimately lead to music, she forever changed the trajectory of my life. Because, she made me believe that song.

I felt the memory warranted taking a moment to pay tribute and thank God for teachers like Lannie Spann McBride.