SALEM, Ore. — It’s been tough for a lot of students, especially for seniors who didn’t have the send-off they were hoping for.
But some McNary High School choir students in the Salem-Keizer School District are continuing to connect even while they’re apart.
Sixteen students out of the 28 students in the school's a cappella group were part of an inspiring virtual performance of the song, “Smile.” The video is posted on YouTube.
“The girls group this year had 14 girls and we’re called Something Blue, and then the boys group is the Danger Tones, and then we come together and sing together and it’s Something Dangerous,” explained Ingrid Dunn, a graduated senior.
The group’s teacher, Joshua Rist came up with the idea of a virtual performance. He said the seniors who participated did it on their own time, since they had already graduated. Students used their phones to shoot video of themselves singing to a pre-recorded guide track meant to keep everyone together. Then a couple other teachers at McNary High, Ashley Gruber and Andy Thomas, helped with the audio and video editing.
“For a moment even though everyone shot this and created it themselves, we had this picture of togetherness,” said Rist.
“It’s still a way to feel connected, and feel emotionally connected at least,” said sophomore Gretchen Dunn.
The words to the song, written by Charlie Chaplin and arranged by Ben Bram, are especially relevant during the pandemic.
In part, the lyrics read: "Smile, though your heart is aching. Smile, even though it’s breaking. When there are clouds in the sky, you’ll get by."
“Every single word in that song is meaningful right now,” said Noah Gould, a senior who has graduated.
For some already graduated seniors in the group, the pandemic took away an important milestone.
“A lot of the senior things got canceled,” said Myra Shra, a graduated senior.
“For me it was definitely an abrasive stop,” said another graduated senior, Tate Thompson.
For Gould and others, the transition from school life to adult life, has been uncomfortable.
"I’ve transitioned into a pseudo-adult life. I’m working graveyard as an essential worker. It’s been a completely abrupt and weird change for me," he said.
Layton Thurlow, who also just graduated, has had a similar experience.
“It’s just a straight transition. For me I’m working construction like 12 hours a day and it’s just really busy and it doesn’t feel right.”
“We don’t get what we’ve worked so hard for,” said Thurlow.
Rist said there was a lot planned for seniors at the end of the year. But while singing alone in a room to a phone isn’t the same, Rist said it’s the best he could think of doing.
“I’m just really pleased with the perseverance of the kids,” said Rist.
“I know some of these kids spent hours and hours redoing their takes to get something they were proud of.”
Creating such a beautiful performance also made a positive impact on the students themselves.
“It just brought a smile to my face and it brought the meaning back in these hard times,” said junior, Dillon Lopez.
“It makes me really happy to watch it cause I feel like we can be together through that even though we can’t be together physically right now,” said Ingrid Dunn.
“The world circumstance isn’t going to stop us from producing art and doing what we love,” added Tobias Straw, a junior at McNary.
Their hope is that the video can help bring some comfort in such a difficult time.
“It doesn’t say to get rid of the heartache, you still have it. And when I think of smiling, I think of gratitude. I think it’s a revolutionary idea to just be thankful,” Ingrid said.
“I hope that people who watch the video get that too.”
Junior Elise Myers said she’s hoping the performance will help people move forward.
“Even in hard times you still have to look forward to what can come,” said Myers.
