Pine Lane Intermediate School Men’s Choir

David sang in the Pine Lane Intermediate School Men’s Choir for 4th and 5th grade. During 6th grade, there was a 6th grade choir and he sang in that too. He loved choir and loved the Music Teacher, Mr. Leatherman.

Michael is singing in the Pine Lane Intermediate School Men’s Choir this year and he sang in choir last year as well. Searching my past blogs, I couldn’t find any other postings on choir, but I could have sworn that I wrote about the performance the boys did at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science in August, 2011. So first I’ll do a quick re-cap, and then I’ll go on to choir for this school year.

Michael outside the Museum of Nature and Science

For the 2010-2011 school year, the Pine Lane Men’s Choir did a Pirate’s program. They sang about pirates, dressed as pirates and behaved like pirates. Mr. Leatherman, is an amazing Choir Teacher. He is wonderful with the boys (I wouldn’t know about the girls, seeing as I don’t have one, but I suspect that he is really good with the girls as well). He also has a large number of contacts in the community. Anyway, there was a Pirate’s Exhibit at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science in early 2011. Mr. Leatherman was invited to submit a video audition of the boys. They were auditioning for the honor of performing at the Pirate Exhibit Volunteer Breakfast in August. After the Museum viewed the audition tape, the boys were invited to sing. It was a very big honor, as they were the only performers invited.

Men's Choir at the Museum of Nature and Science

Mr. Leatherman

The boys had a couple of rehearsals in August (on Saturday mornings as a number of the boys from the choir had graduated and were now going to middle school). Then they performed a shortened version of their original program on Saturday, August 27 at the Museum.

Michael had a great time at the Museum.

Mr. Leatherman alternates the Men’s and Women’s Choirs so that if the Men’s Choir performs in May, the following year they perform in December. So, Michael was in the Holiday program this school year. The Choir has the distinction of being the first group to ever perform at Tagawa Gardens in Centennial, Colorado. I’m not sure what year they started, but it has become a tradition for the Pine Lane Intermediate School Choir to perform there every December. Tagawa Gardens is one of the largest indoor garden centers in Colorado and they provide free entertainment (usually school choirs) for their shoppers. The Pine Lane Intermediate School Choir tends to draw a large crowd (this is the third year that we have gone – and every year they have to find more chairs and eventually run out so people have to stand). It really is fun for the kids and they always do an amazing job. This year they sang on Saturday, December 3.

Michael wearing antlers

The boys sang seasonal songs, including a song about Kwanza, Hanukkah and several Christmas songs.  This year, Michael’s friend, Josh, came with us to the performance.

Men's Choir at Tagawa Gardens

It was somewhat bittersweet, as I realized it was the last Holiday Performance one of my boys would be participating in with the Pine Lane Intermediate Men’s Choir (as Men’s Choir will be in the Spring for Michael’s 6th grade year).

In addition to performing at Tagawa Gardens, the Choir goes on a field trip and performs in the community.  One of the stops they made this year was at Chaparral High School in Parker (this is the high school that many of the boys will attend).  I was unable to go with them for this field trip, but Mr. Leatherman told me that this was one of the most amazing days he had with choir in his tenure as a music teacher.  I can only imagine how they sounded.  And the High School Choir sang to the boys.

On the bus

Finally, the boys were invited to sing at the Colorado State Capital.  The Women’s Choir sang there last year (along with a couple other choirs, I think).  The Men’s Choir was the only group invited to sing this year.  Every year they have a tree at the Colorado State Capital to honor the Fallen Heroes.  This year the lighting ceremony was on December 3.  I was lucky enough to be able to chaperone the 53 members of the Pine Lane Intermediate Men’s Choir on this trip to the Capital.

Looking up

The boys were on their best behavior – and it showed.  I could not have been more proud of them!  It was a solemn occasion (the tree lighting) and they worked so hard at being respectful – taking off their Santa hats and bowing their heads.  They were a bit figgity during the ceremony, but they were amazing for 4th, 5th and 6th grade boys.  They sang beautifully.

What they saw

The Choir during the ceremony

After singing during the ceremony, they got to sing on the steps of the Rotunda. Here they got to sing more “fun” songs and let loose a little bit.

The Choir on the Rotunda Steps

They also got to go on a tour of the Capital Building.

Looking up at the dome from the rotunda

It was an amazing trip an amazing group of boys.  They are a wonderful example of how we are raising our boys to be respectful, caring young men.  And with the help of teachers, like Mr. Leatherman, the have the opportunity to shine.  Thank you, Mr. Leatherman for all you do to help our boys become men and let them have some fun while they are at it.

SIDE NOTE – I did try to take some pictures of the Tree for the Fallen Heroes.  Most of them are dark and hard to see.  Two students from the Choir got to light the tree and it was quite a moment.  I also looked to see if there was a press release about the lighting, and there wasn’t much.  Pine Lane was not mentioned in the articles I found, which is a shame.  It was such an honor to be invited to sing and the Choir should have been recognized.  There is, however, a good picture of  the tree on the Denver Post’s website.