Gospel choir offers hope in Coon Rapids

The playful chatter and coughing quieted as the seven students formed a half circle in the classroom. Then one powerful female voice began to sing, "Wade in the water ..."

Other voices joined in, creating beautiful harmonies, coloring the main melody with variation, yet sounding as one.

This unified sound comes from a new gospel choir at Coon Rapids High School. For the past month, the students have been practicing Tuesdays and Thursdays after school, supervised by student learning advocate Portia McClain.

The idea for the group began when McClain watched a "60 Minutes" episode about a similar choir for teens in Harlem in New York City.

McClain said she had noticed a lack of hope and a lack of faith among kids at her school. When she saw the episode, she thought, "Wow, maybe that could help."

McClain showed the video to the Breakfast Book Club, a before-school reading group started in 2009 to foster cultural conversations. A few students embraced the idea and worked with her to form the choir.

The group has grown from three to 10 - two boys and eight girls -- and is looking for more members.

"I'm looking for some of those kids who are not having very good experiences, to try and help them turn it around," she said.

The choir offers a place for students to express their spirituality, to belong at school, and to sing.

"What I love is that we never forget the gospel in gospel choir," said Ekow Nana-Kweson, an 11th-grader. The members pray before and after practices and performances, holding hands in a circle as one student speaks. "We just give God the glory, 'cause he deserves it," Nana-Kweson said.

Marie Koon, an 11th-grader, said the choir gives her a sense of belonging. "I'm not very social with a lot of people in this school, and I'm shy to get into other stuff," she said. "This just makes me feel like I'm part of the school."

Sophomores Beryl Sang and Grace Kalala said they enjoy bringing their faith into a school setting. "To have a gospel group helps us to keep that Christianity wherever we are, like in school," Kalala said.

Nana-Kweson and others in the group are also members of Catalyst, a student-led Bible study at the high school.

Passing legal muster

Under the U.S. Equal Access Act, federally funded secondary schools must provide equal access for all student-initiated extracurricular groups, including religiously affiliated ones. If the school allows non-curriculum clubs, it must apply the same rules to all groups and provide the same resources, such as meeting spaces and bulletin boards.

McClain said her faith and church helped take her away from some of the hardships of growing up in the ghetto in Chicago.

"So many kids don't have that, especially today - they don't go to church, they don't have hope, they don't have faith," she said. "You have to believe in something, otherwise your life's gonna be stagnant, and that's the honest-to-God truth."

"They are amazing kids with incredible voices," said Annette Ziegler, interim principal at the high school.

The choir is mostly run by the students, some of whom have experience in school and church choirs. They agree on songs and then work together to arrange harmonies. McClain supervises and gives them advice now and then.

The students have been working concessions at high school sporting events to earn money to pay for a director. Joyce Davis, a member of the music group Sounds of Blackness, worked with the choir a few times at rehearsals. They're hoping to get somebody once a week to help direct and provide accompaniment for their voices.

"I think it's a bold thing that we're doing here," Nana-Kweson said. "I feel like we're doing something -- something great."

Bryna Godar is a University of Minnesota student on assignment for the Star Tribune.