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A Plus: Worthington Hills Choir Students Perform "Seasons of Love" at Gov. DeWine Press Conference

A Plus: Worthington Hills Choir Students Perform Virtually at Gov. DeWine Press Conference00000184-9c00-d6f8-a1cf-be04e23f0000

Students who aren’t graduating seniors are missing out on end-of-the-year milestones as well, such as choir and band concerts. But that isn’t stopping kids from sharing their joy of music!

Our last A Plus of Season 50 goes to a group of students who used the power of song to spread joy to Ohioans.

Sixth grade choir students at Worthington Hills Elementary in Worthington participated in a video singing the song “Seasons of Love” from the musical Rent.

The virtual performance caught the attention of Governor Mike DeWine himself! He played it at one of his press conferences about the coronavirus earlier this month.

Gov. DeWine gave a thumbs up to the screen when the video ended.

Choir director at Worthington Hills Kara Johansen put the video together. She said “Seasons of Love” is traditionally sung at the final choir concert of the year. She said she was excited and surprised when the governor featured the performance at the press briefing.

“Sixth grade is the final year at our elementary school, and our sixth graders have had to miss out on so many treasured traditions like their sixth grade musical, their clap out, and their end of the year party,” Johansen said. “Knowing that they were getting a little bit of spotlight during this difficult time gave me so much joy!”

One of the choir students, Ella Schumacher, said she hopes the video will inspire other students to come together through music. “Right now, it's really important to stay connected and remember all the good,” she said. “Even though we can't actually go into school and make memories together, when we look back, we can still remember all the love."

And another student, Lia McGlone, said seeing the video play at the press conference made her feel really special. “My favorite part in creating and participating in this video was still being able to sing with my friends even though we couldn't do it face to face,” she said. “The outcome of the project was awesome. It really sounded like a choir!”

Way to go, Worthington Hills choir students! We’re proud to award you this week’s A Plus for using your love for singing to spread happiness throughout our state. 

Check out the video in the player above!
Submit your ideas for our NewsDepth A+ segment to newsdepth@ideastream.org for consideration.

anna.huntsman@ideastream.org | 216-916-6058