Hope Choir Take Stage for End of Year Concert Titled “You Are Enough”

By: Amanda McIntosh

Music sweetly lofted through the air of the Geary Theatre on April 10 as the Ambassadors for Hope Choir took to the stage to present their end-of-the-year concert entitled “You are Enough.”  Director and FCCBH Prevention Instructor, Mrs. Wendy Grant beautifully orchestrated 41 students in a myriad of hopeful, powerful, uplifting music that paired nicely with a reading of Max Lucado’s book “You Are Special.”

“You Are Special,” narrated on stage by Ambassador Joel Seeley, tells the story of a small community of wooden people called Wemmicks. In short, Wemmicks do the same thing every day; give out gold stars to the smart, pretty, talented, and delicately painted people while those that are considered less than perfect with scuffed-up paint and wood or not as talented or strong, receive ugly gray dots.

Punchinello (Ambassador Andrew Seeley) receives a lot of gray dots and he doesn’t like it. One day, Punchinello meets Lucia, another Wemmick, (Ambassador Corinne Thayn.) Lucia doesn’t have any stars or dots. The Wemmicks marks don’t seem to stick to her. Punchinello wants to know how Lucia does it.  She tells him to find out for himself by sending him to the workshop where the town’s woodcarver, Eli (played by Roger Scovill) lives. Through Eli’s tutelage, Punchinello learns that the opinions of others do not matter.  Punchinello has worth despite the gold stars or grey dots. Eli reiterates how special he is and that the only opinions that matter are those of Punchinello and Eli, his carver.

With songs like “All Dolled Up,” “Who Says?” “Unbreakable,” “I Am Already Enough/More Than Enough,” and a crowd favorite “Believer,” the positive message lingering was loud and clear: every child consistently needs to hear that they are precious and that they are enough. Labels can be hurtful and there should not be any qualifiers for our youth to feel special just as they are. The Ambassadors for Hope Choir uses lessons from the “Why Try” curriculum to strengthen the message of resiliency. The Ambassadors for Hope choir embody unity, community, and friendship. Their unity was best demonstrated during the choir’s rendition of “You’re Worth It.”  As the song began, a white banner spanned the entire width of the stage covered in bold black words: “dumb,” “jerk,” “chicken,” “brat,” “loser,” “smelly,” “drama queen,” and “sensitive” (to name a few.) These were derogatory words that the choir admitted were labels they’d been given by others.  A courageous reminder that our words matter and words can hurt. Towards the end of the song, the choir ripped the banner to shreds and tossed the words off the stage. The students took their power back over these labels and trashed them.

A surprising and delightful element added to the concert was two compilation videos directed by Dallin Grant. The first video showcased all the events and singing opportunities the choir was able to participate in this year to spread messages of hope and healing. The second video was set to Meghan Trainor’s “Better When I’m Dancing” and was the choir’s very own music video with each Ambassador taking a turn sharing their dancing talents!

The Ambassadors for Hope Choir thanked the following for their support this year:

USUE:
Doug Miller, Administrator

Sydney Ho, Event Coordinator

FCCBH:

Taylor Passarella, Prevention Program Director, Barbie Potter, Prevention Community Coordinator, Amanda McIntosh – SEUHD/Parent Helper, Brenna Penry & Celeste Sorenson – Stage Managers

Celeste Sorensen – Choir Pianist/Composer, Joan Powell – Choir Seamstress, Dallin Grant – Choir Photographer/Videographer, Dustin & Kelly Scovill – Parent Helpers and Price City – Use of Civic Auditorium

Ambassadors for Hope Choir Members:

Cali Blackmon, Katie Francis, Clair Landcaster, Hadley Heugly, Corinne Thayn, Cedar Brooks, Kimbree Colosimo, Sarah Hung, Andee Brady, McKall Wear, Cash Marsing, Ash Bingham, Kaelee Nelson, Brynn Terry, Taylee Brower, Kaylee Bernard, Raychel Riche, Abbigale McIntosh, Sophie Francis, Jocelyn Brinkerhoff, Lily Anderson, Andrew Seeley, Kheyanuah Kofford, Maeve Bradford, Amy Bishoff, Braylie Scovill, Kyle Nelson, Lauryn Austin, Seely Clark, Bridgette Woodward, Dylan Yates, Aedan Bridge, Evelyn Palmer, James Hawkins “Jam”, James Stephens, Joel Seeley, Joelle Frandsen, Alana Austin, Jocelyn Shorts, Josie Yates andRaigan Scovill.

For information regarding auditions for the 2024-2025 school year, please contact Mrs. Wendy Grant wgrant@fourcorners.ws.