PS22

So PS22 is just a public school in New York. They have a lot of minorities and high risk kids. Not the worst school but definitely not the best school. Along comes this young, idealistic, music teacher with funky hair who starts a fifth grade chorus and has his students sing not-the-usual songs. The teacher is enthusiastic and works hard. He starts posting their songs on Youtube. They get noticed by the famous blogger Perez Hilton and suddenly they are pretty famous too.

This is a nice story, and reason enough to pay attention. However, this class of 5th grade singers is very compelling to me. It's because of this video:



I love this little video. I am sure I have watched it about 50 times. I love how much fun the kids are clearly having. I love the little rapper girl who has a very very small solo but is SO EXCITED to be there. My favorite part starts at about 1:19 when the two little girls look at each other and burst into big smiles. I showed it to Chris and he laughed at me, but whatever. Who can help liking these kids with their awkward dancing, their ratty hair, their sweet voices, and their big smiles? If you look at other videos, especially the later ones when they are performing for pop stars, their hair is all done up and they look self-important and fake. But in this clip these kids are very real and very happy. If you have already heard of these kids, this is a nice reminder for you. If not, I hope you like them. You can read more about them on their blog here.