Happy Friday everyone,
Thank you for subscribing to Wu Fei’s Music Daily. This is episode #503 — Elle from Montréal 艾老师.
This multitrack vocal + guzheng piece was composed yesterday, performed by me. I would like to dedicate it to a very special woman who has touched our family since we moved to Nashville in 2015. Her is name Helene “Elle” Harvey, teacher, director, and founder of A New Leaf and Pip and Pickles Farm.
When we moved to Nashville nearly seven years ago, we had the hardest time to find a preschool for our daughter. She was two and a half years old. Almost every pre-school was full with a waiting list that was at least two years long.
After months of searching, someone referred A New Leaf to us. We called. Elle had an opening. How magical! My husband and I had been feeling utterly frustrated and discouraged by that point that we were ready to be stay-home parents for a while until anyone had an opening. We were relieved. Not only had we found a school for our daughter, but also it was an amazing one. It was in the middle of forest! What?! The teachers were amazing! We felt we’d won a lottery.
Over the years, we’ve been constantly impressed by Elle’s vision of education and determination to push her mission forward. Nashville was moving fast and slow at the same time. Fast, because there were more than 100 people moving here every day from elsewhere. Slow, because the city government has been slow in making decisions to catch up with the rapid pace of the city’s growth, especially helping schools to grow.
Rent was sky rocketing when many new families needing to find schools for their children. Elle was leading her pack (teachers, students and parents) running all over town trying to survive. We followed her. We wanted her to succeed. Our children loved her. At one point, the school had a few weeks gap before it could move into a new campus building, Elle continued the school in a park. That was an amazing experience for me to pull through with her and all the families that were together.
After years of hard work, Elle finally bought a farm in Nashville where she didn’t have to move around the school any more. It is called Pip & Pickle’s Farm. Since then, she has attracted several wonderful teachers to join her, and many more families have joined A New Leaf.
A New Leaf is having their annual Bare Branch Festival on April 23, Saturday at Pip & Pickles Farm ( 4341 Pecan Valley Road) in Nashville. There will food, music, family activists (playing with goats and chickens) on the farm. Check out the update on their school website here . Read more about Elle’s story from Montréal to Nashville here.
You rock, Elle! Nashville is so lucky to have you!
Wu Fei 吴非
Wufeimusic.com
