Preparing for the holiday season

Elementary school students, bundled up against the chilly morning, stood behind desks reading the words of songs projected on the wall as they sang and wiggled to tunes about Old Saint Nick, dreidels and dancing reindeer.

“Whoa, you sound good. You’ve been practicing,” said Shannon Sovern, the choir instructor and a fourth-grade teacher.

Fourth-grader Jordan Charity danced as she sang the bilingual “Este es la Navidad.”

The 9-year-old joined the Dr. Ralph E. Hawes Elementary School Choir to learn to sing to accompany her dancing and acting.

She was one of about 40 students awake and singing at choir practice. The group meets before school at 7:45 a.m. to practice for its holiday concert in December.

Jordan said she decided to join the choir to help her chances of breaking into Hollywood.

“I want to be an actress, and my mom said it would be really cool to be a triple threat,” she said.

Jordan is learning tap dancing and acting along with singing in the choir. Her goal is to be like her idol, Disney Channel tween star Selena Gomez. The aspiring actress said she is good because of her flair for the dramatic.

“My mom says I’m a drama queen, so I’m really good at acting,” she said.

While wanting to take the limelight as a career, Jordan said she is excited and nervous about the concert.

The students will perform Dec. 10 and might get to do other performances. Sovern said she is trying to expand the program to give the students more opportunities to sing for an audience.

“I want to give them a new experience to sing in front of other people,” Sovern said.

The students have been practicing for six weeks, but Sovern said she wants them to learn a love and appreciate for music.

Damon Williams, 9, said he can’t wait to perform at the concert. Damon said he has been practicing at home while listening to the songs on his iPod. This is his first year in choir, and he said he joined because he thought it might be exciting. It has been living up to his expectations.

“She’s teaching us the songs and everything, and it’s a lot of fun,” Damon said.

Singing Terms

Choir: A group of singers in a chorus.

A cappella: Singing without instrumental accompaniment.

Beat: The unit of musical rhythm.

Cantata: Music written for a choir or orchestra.

Carol: A song or hymn celebrating Christmas.