Schlagle Choir Wins Big
On Jan. 11, the F.L. Schlagle Chamber Choir/SUAVE (Schlagle’s Universal Alacritive Vocal Ensemble) won a national competition – the First Sunday Gospel Challenge contest – under the leadership of Choir Director Mr. Darryl Ammons, Sr. Schlagle won a $10,000 cash award and will be featured on the new movie First Sunday.The Gospel Challenge was a nation-wide competition in which singing performances were taped 
and submitted. Then, top scorers from each city advanced to the second stage of the competition. That is when Schlagle (and other competitors) showed their performances online. During the second stage of the competition, people cast their votes nationwide.“I told students that I felt real comfortable we could win locally,” Ammons said. “It really took the entire community and all of our friends and relatives to come together for us to win.”Mr. Ammons was quite confident in winning the local competition but had doubts about winning the national competition against such large cities. The Schlagle choir competed against cities such as: Miami, Dallas, New York City, Houston, Philadelphia, Cleveland, and other large cities.Senior Mee Vang, an alto in the Chamber Choir, had many doubts about winning the competition, but had fun at the local competition.“We sang at the local competition and gave them a mini concert,” Vang said. “They invited us to the radio station for more singing.” In the national competition the Schlagle chamber choir sang Joy to the World – both in English and Japanese. Judges gave them a perfect score.Despite their success nationally, members of the Schlagle Chamber Choir were not able to receive the money due to state regulations against competing for monetary prizes. The money was donated to the Kansas City, Kansas School Foundation for Excellence.When hearing that the choir could not keep the money, Vang was disappointed. However, she was okay with the fact that the money went to a good cause.
Senior, Eric L. Copeland, a tenor for the Chamber Choir, had absolutely no doubt that the choir would win because he believed the talent was there. Also, he felt as if the message for people to cast their votes online had been spread well across the nation. However, Copeland was displeased to find out the money could not be received. Nevertheless, he 
believed it was a good idea for the money to be donated.“I felt that we deserved the money because we earned it and should have a right to use it within school activities,” said Copeland. “For
example, we could have used the money for our trip to Atlanta, Georgia. The choir will be taking the trip for more competition.”Junior, Roman Byers, a bass for the Chamber Choir, was very confident the Schlagle would win. When asked what was going through his mind at the time of the local competition, he responded simply, “Joy to the world.”Sophomore Natalie Smith, a soprano for the Chamber Choir, did not get too worried about the competition. She had no doubt that the choir was going to win. “I thought the other competitors were good,” Smith said. “But I thought we were better. Anyway, for me, it wasn’t really about the money; it was about having fun.”“It doesn’t surprise me what are students are capable of doing,” Ammons said. “If provided the opportunity and support they can and will be successful.”
PHOTO INFO:
TOP: Schlagle Director Mr. Ammons leads the choir in their performance at the Cotton Club school-wide event.
MIDDLE: Schlagle choir member senior Nicole Scott sings at the Cotton Club, an event held to honor black entertainers.
BOTTOM: Schlagle senior Cassondra Malone sings a solo at the Cotton Club, an event that was part of Schlagle’s Black History Month celebrations.