Parent Teacher Magazine Union County Public Schools March 2015 | Page 16

Forest Hills High choir offers memorable Valentine’s Day present

Would you like to give someone
special a Valentine’s Day they’ll
never forget? The Forest Hills High
School Chorus can help make that
happen.
About 25 chorus students will
bring “singing valentines” right
to that special someone’s office
or place of employment. The
performance will be delivered to
area businesses, schools, nursing
homes, hospitals and restaurants,
but not to private residences.
Students will travel to
workplaces and offer these love
songs in harmony the day before
Valentine’s Day.
Vicki Hogan, FHHS choir
director, brought the concept to
Forest Hills High School seven years
ago when she first came to Union
County Public Schools. “We get
lots and lots of tears of happiness.
We always have a mix of standard
songs that older people will know
and some that the kids will know.”
Forest Hills High School choir director Vicki Hogan leads some of her students in a rehearsal
of songs they will present as valentine’s presents.
The cost of the personalized
performance is $25. Hogan said
students not only sing a song, they also present a rose to the
individual.
“The $25 covers the cost of gas and the cost of a rose; plus it’s
a fundraiser for us,” Hogan said. “Once everything is all paid for,
we probably make about $100.”
The money goes back into the classroom, buying such things as
sheet music or props that are used in the school’s concerts.
The individual sending the valentine can choose one of five
songs: “All of Me,” “You Are My Rock,” “Stick Wid U,” “Stand By
Me,” “Just the Way You Are,” “My Girl,” and “1,000 Years.”
This is the first year that Forest Hills sophomore Breezy
Thomas, 15, has been part of the singing valentines.
“I think it’s going to be fun,” Thomas said. “It’s definitely a
good experience for us because it kind of creates a family here at
school and it’s helping out the community. I think it’s for a good
cause.”
Ava Horne, 17, a senior, has enjoyed being part of the singing
valentines for all four years of her high school career. She said
what she most enjoys is the look on the faces of those who get the
singing valentine.
“We have had people cry before,” Horne said. “It’s really
touching to them. I’m an emotional person so it almost makes me
cry, too. The words move people. We had one song called, “Thank
you” that we sang to a lunchroom lady at an elementary school,
and she was in tears.”
--This article was written by Deb Coates Bledsoe and provided
courtesy of the Communications Office of the Union County Public
Schools.

14 • Mar/Apr 2015 • Parent Teacher Magazine