Junior High District Choir poses with bright smiles for their performance (Contributed by Choir Director Preston Yoder)
By ADY CARTER
Student contributor
On Jan. 20, nine Cranberry High School students, from grades 8 and 9, attended Junior District Choir at Punxsutawney High School.
Since the event is for a select few singers, every single person had to audition to get the chance to go. For auditions, Cranberry students sang a few songs from their upcoming concert.
These high school students started the day by boarding the bus early on that Monday morning during the school’s scheduled snow day. Everyone in attendance worked incredibly hard and rehearsed a total of six hours with half an hour breaks and an hour lunch.
As a reward for all of this hard work, Punxsautawny Phil surprised everyone with a visit. The groundhog was brought in a clear cage as a surprise to show him off to the dedicated students attending junior district choir.
When asked what the best part of this day was, ninth grader Gillian White recalled this experience: “It was when they brought Phil out to entertain us after our hard work during the lunch break. It was a fun experience after all the tiring singing that I could appreciate.”
Many pictures and smiles were captured with Phil despite the growing exhaustion. He seemed to almost recharge them and encourage them to get back to work and perform the best they could.
The concert started around 7 p.m. and continued until the two Latin and two English songs were sung to the audience in their entirety. After the concert ended, the day came to a close and all those in attendance left for their homes having been entertained by a very talented group of young people.
Ady Carter a student at Cranberry High School and a member of Cranberry Chronicles, the school’s journalism/publications class.
