A video made by Vienna Elementary School first graders is competing with those made by schools across the country in a nationwide effort to raise money for a new school in Tanzania.
The video was made for La La Love, a singing contest created by One Voice, Epic Change and SiriusXM Radio to raise money for the future Shepherds Junior School in Tanzania.
This fall, Vienna Elementary School Music Teacher Dave Reynolds visited Shepherd's Primary School with local musician and One Voice founder Robbie Schaefer to teach singing lessons. The school, an elementary school for 1st through 8th graders, was founded in 2003 by Mama Lucy, who saved what she earned from selling chickens to open up the only Tanzanian school of its kind.
The week was the beginning of a sister relationship between VES and the school.
The video they made during that visit was the inspiration for the school's song choice for this contest -- it shows VES first graders singing the same song, "One Voice," with coordinated choreography.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Vienna Elementary School's video was No. 5 among schools nationwide. The deadline for donations is Dec. 1. The VES video has raised $1,400. The leading school, Silvia Rosenauer Elementary in Jackson, N.J., has raised $3,130.
The school that raises the most money will have a chance to make a radio segment for SiriusXM.
You can access Vienna Elementary School's competition page here.
To see VES' entry, play the video in the media player above.
Melanie Meren
9:04 pm on Thursday, December 1, 2011
What a great story, and great effort! Way to reach out, Vienna.