Newton County School System (NCSS) was well represented in the recent Georgia Music Educators Association’s Statewide Elementary Honor Chorus as fifth-grade students from Fairview, Heard-Mixon, Mansfield, and Newton County Theme School were selected to participate in the prestigious event held at the Classic Center in Athens, Georgia.  Music teachers Will Schmidt, Fairview; Amy Rains, Heard-Mixon; Sarah Latimer, Mansfield; and Ciara Edge, Newton County Theme School, also represented the school district at the 2016 Elementary Honor Chorus.

According to Rains, students selected to participate in the Elementary Honor Chorus must rehearse and learn the music prior to the event.  Then they gather with all 500 students from across the state for the group performance.  Students are divided equally among two choirs, the Vivace Choir and the Allegro Choir, and this year, all Newton County students participated in the Vivace Choir. They performed Kusimama (Stand Tall) by Jim Papoulis; Where the Music Comes From by Lee Hoiby; I See the Moon by Douglas Beam, and Rejoice and Sing by Rollo Dilworth. 

“The Statewide Elementary Honor Chorus affords students the unique opportunity to perform with talented students from all over the state of Georgia in a very large choir,” said Rains. “They were directed by clinicians Fred Meads and Angie Johnson, who are both very accomplished conductors and educators of choral music, so this was definitely a wonderful learning experience for our students.”

The following students represented NCSS at the 2016 Georgia Music Educators Association’s Statewide Elementary Honor Chorus:

STUDENT	SCHOOL
Jaimoni Parker	Fairview Elementary
Reign Walker	Fairview Elementary
Sarah Dietrich	Heard-Mixon Elementary
Sarah Ann Edge	Heard-Mixon Elementary
Alanna Gosnell	Heard-Mixon Elementary
Taylor Horton	Heard-Mixon Elementary
Jenelle Fuller	Mansfield Elementary
Jay Nipper	Mansfield Elementary
Gracie Bates	Newton County Theme School
Milan Browning	Newton County Theme School
Caroline Chiappetta	Newton County Theme School
Ansley Douglas	Newton County Theme School
Joanna Fisher	Newton County Theme School

“For our students to have the opportunity to participate in such a dynamic and versatile musical event underscores our belief that the arts make a substantive and positive impact on our students,” said Benjamin Roundtree, NCSS Director of Elementary Education.  “These young people represent the very best that our district’s music program has, and I am proud they were able to showcase their talents and their teachers’ hard work as members of the Georgia Music Educators Association’s Statewide Elementary Honor Chorus.