Ypsilanti High School choir teacher Crystal Harding said she was determined to make the most of this time for students, even though they can't be together due to the pandemic. So she wrote and had students record a virtual choir video called "New Way."
Lisa Barry talked to the music teacher and high school junior Jamira Daniels, who sang in the video, about the song and the inspiration they hope others find from it.
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Ypsilanti Community High School music teacher Crystal Harding says this is the first of what she hopes will be several virtual choir videos made by her students. She said since they can't be together due to the pandemic, she refused to waste this time and had to do something. Harding says she "believes in making music," so she wrote the song and had each of several dozen students sing their part separately, then they were edited together.
The song is called "New Way," and Harding says, "The song is for everyone." She hopes it encourages all students forced to learn virtually during the current global health crisis that they "can't give up or quit" just because the school experience is so different now, adding, "We still have to get up and try to learn and achieve every morning."
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— Lisa Barry is the host of All Things Considered on WEMU. You can contact Lisa at 734.487.3363, on Twitter @LisaWEMU, or email her at lbarryma@emich.edu
