As the 7th and 8th grade choir students at Mary of Lourdes Middle School in Little Falls wrapped up their portion of the school’s annual spring concert, they were surprised by a special addition to the program. Before the students returned to their seats, they were presented with the first-place prize in the annual Catholic Campaign for Human Development “Art on the Margins” contest.
The winning entry was a video they submitted of the song they had just performed in the concert.
Earlier in the year, the students had recorded their performance of the choral song “Sisi Ni Moja (We Are one),” by Jacob Narverud. Their teacher, Mary Gondringer, thought it fit well with this year’s Art on the Margins theme, “Solidarity: Standing Together.”
“The song could have just said that message in English, but throwing in another language also represents the oneness of the people of the world,” Gondringer said. “Utilizing another language just demonstrates that even speaking different languages doesn’t have to separate us. Language doesn’t have to be a barrier. Music is a universal language. Music itself brings people together.”
The contest was sponsored by the Diocese of St. Cloud Office of Social Concerns and the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, the national anti-poverty and social justice program of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. There were more than 40 entries from students at Catholic schools around the diocese.
“There were a lot of really great submissions this year, but the song stood out to us for a few reasons,” said Kateri Mancini, director of social concerns for the Diocese of St. Cloud. “First, a choir itself is a model of solidarity, with various voices coming together and working together in order to produce one beautiful, unified result. Second, the message of the song profoundly speaks of solidarity, with the translation of the Swahili title being ‘we are one.’
Mancini said that their teacher shared that throughout the process of learning and performing the song, they were able to have conversations about the lyrics and meaning. The students came to a stronger understanding of solidarity through it.
“It made us really excited to see students not only creating artistic expression but also learning through this contest,” Mancini said.
Gondringer said she is immensely proud of this class for their win, and for their hard work to get there. A lot of times, the hard work put into a musical production goes largely unnoticed. The students know how hard they worked, but oftentimes, that’s not shown to the audience.
“I love when students are recognized for the work they do, and I feel as though this award did exactly that for these students! Kudos to them! I’m so proud of them,” she said.
Each student received a certificate and a small East African fair trade musical instrument (since the song they sang was in Swahili). Their teacher received a gift card so they can have snacks in their classroom later.
“It’s evident in our young people’s work on all of the submissions this year, that our youth have an incredible vision for our communities and our world,” Mancini said. “The future is in great hands if these students can transform their artwork into reality when it comes to their understanding of solidarity!”
View the video here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nbi9s9uLmYBlfwnab8ZLuFSu0nR7KftP/view?usp=drivesdk
Honorable Mentions were awarded to:
St. John’s Area School in Foley, grades Pre-K through 6th, for their pastel collage/wall mural entitled “Standing Together.”
Roland Yager, 5th grader at St. Kathrine Drexel School in St. Cloud, for his poem, “Helping at the Miracle Field.”
Ellie Bikus, 4th grader at St. Kathrine Drexel School in St. Cloud, for her drawing, “Garden of Growth.”
Allison Dotzler, 3rd grader at Christ the King School in Browerville, for her drawing, “Loving Hands.”
Izabella Baron, Preschooler at Christ the King School in Browerville, for her drawing, “Praying Together.”
Nice article! Of course, being of Little Falls, I was proud of MOLMS personnel and have two of those good singers taking tennis lessons with me. On Tuesday I get to share compliments with them. The two girls emulate Christian values and actions