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Sebring Middle chorus program needs your vote
[January 10, 2013]

Sebring Middle chorus program needs your vote


SEBRING, Jan 10, 2013 (Highlands Today - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Not everyday do middle school show choir students drop in a shoe store, en masse, and sing "Jingle Bells," holding a shoe in their hands.



But when a $15,000 prize money is at stake, and Rack Room Shoes is the one giving away the money, then the setting makes sense.

Sebring Middle School's Choral Director Kara Williams is hoping Highlands County residents vote as much as they can by Friday in an online video music contest where the top four vote-getters get $15,000 each.


Friday 9 p.m. is the voting deadline, but should the school bag the prize money, it will help the 250 students who are in the school's chorus program.

Williams saw an advertisement for the Rack Room Shoes Gift of Music Video Contest in a newspaper and decided to give it a shot.

On Dec. 17, the school's show choir had a few performances for the community, which included the food court at Lakeshore Mall.

Since Rack Room Shoes is located at the mall, Williams asked if it would be OK if the group did a quick, impromptu singing act, and the store was "very gracious" about it.

Contestants had to pick one of five holiday songs.

The Sebring Middle School group picked "Jingle Bells" and chortled away as mother Samantha Bickman video-taped it and posted it on the company web site.

Williams said she was "very pleased" with the performance, and eight-grader Jace Masong was one of many students who got a kick out of it.

"It was a wonderful thing," he said.

After all, how many times do people get a chance to sing in a shoe store Since that day, Jace has been voting as much as he can and he has asked his parents and friends to do the same.

"We really want to win this time for our school," he said.

If they do win, the top priority would be to buy new risers.

Some of the risers are old and creak during a performance, especially when they try to take a step while dancing, Jace added.

To vote, go to rackroomshoes.com; click on the Gift of Music Video Contest tab in the middle of the page; and choose Florida from the All Categories drop-down menu.

Sebring Middle's video is the one Samantha Bickman submitted, titled SMS Show Choir.

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