After several years with no choir program at Greenbelt Middle School (GMS), 27 students from the school sang on the Millennium Stage at the Kennedy Center on December 17. They performed with students from Largo High School, Kenmoor Elementary, Kenmoor Middle and Capitol Heights Elementary Schools. The event was part of an official CD release concert for a Christmas CD entitled Rejoice, recorded in 2017 by the Largo High School choir. Brandon Felder, the choir conductor at Largo, wanted to make this performance an opportunity for collaboration and building bridges with feeder and community schools. GMS was one of the schools invited to participate in the concert.
This opportunity was eagerly seized by new GMS Choir Director Amy L. Santiago Quiñones. Santiago, a first-year teacher, was hired this fall to re-start the choir program. She dove into her job with great enthusiasm, and quickly discovered talent and desire for singing among the students. She explained, “I came to teach at GMS because I believe that music can change lives. Through music you meet new people, get to know new places and you have unique experiences. My goal as a teacher is to give back to my students what was given to me by my choir teachers here in Prince George’s County Public Schools.”
Read more of this story in the January 18 News Review.
