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Students and community members join in song

Lead Summary

Blooming Prairie High School choir members recently had a unique opportunity to work together with community members. Choir Director Kari Bottin said that the experience is very beneficial for the students.  
The school choir members, along with adult members of the First Lutheran Church Choir, are learning the song, “Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor,” and will sing it together during the March 14 choir concert. The concert is scheduled for 7 p.m. at First Lutheran Church in Blooming Prairie. 
During the concert, the high school choir members and community members will sing side-by-side. “I decided to do this for a few reasons,” explained Bottin. “I think it is great for the kids to see the adults sing long after high school, so that they can see that singing can extend beyond high school choir.”
In addition, the adult singers provide strong role models for the young singers. “It is great for the kids to have such great leaders to follow, and to hear the adults work through the same music that they do,” said Bottin. 
The song itself is also especially meaningful. “The piece we are singing, ‘Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor,’ is a song that many of the adults were familiar with,” she said. “The words of the song are the poem, ‘The Colossus,’ which are the words etched into the side of the Statue of Liberty.” 
“It is a neat piece of music and is relevant even today as there are discussions going on about immigration in our country,” Bottin said. 

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