By:Karenlyn Barone
Hosted by Bob McGrath of Sesame Street fame, and projected onto a screen at each of the schools, the sing-along program was simultaneously broadcast across the United States on PBS, on the American Forces Radio and on Television Network overseas.
The students practiced the eight songs selected for the program during their chorus classes, directed by Roxanne Lalamma on the elementary level and Dan Ezell at the high school.
"When the broadcast cut away to a school in Kentucky and showed local soldiers singing with the children - soldiers who were literally being shipped to Iraq right after the concert - I got very emotional," said Ezell. "This concert was a wonderful experience. I love music and I love hearing young people sing."
Music In Our Schools Month (MIOSM) began as a single statewide celebration in 1973, and has grown over the decades to encompass a day, then a week and then in 1985 to become a month long celebration of music in our schools. March has been officially designated by The National Association for Music Education (MENC) for the observance of MIOSM, the time of year when music education becomes the focus of schools across the nation.
