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Schools

15th Annual Show

Children at Litzsinger School Celebrate the Season in Style.

Litzsinger School in Ladue held its 15th annual Holiday Program on Tuesday afternoon continuing a tradition of inspiring musical performances by students of the St. Louis County Special School District. 

The show was emceed for the seventh consecutive year by John Carney, and musical performances were led by Paula Berner, special education music teacher at Litzsinger.  Carney charmed the audience with his humor in between performances while Berner gracefully led the students in their recitals throughout the afternoon. 

The event combined the simple joy of children singing with a remarkable expression of hope from kids who, as Carney noted after the show, "experience hardship that most would find difficult to imagine on every other day of the year." 

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On this day, however, the kids of Litzsinger School comprised a community of hope and cheer bound together by the music of the holiday season. 

The production opened with a warm greeting from students of Ms. Early's class in the form of a solo rendition of "Hello Everyone" by Jacob and a rousing "Hello, Hello" sung by all the students in the class. 

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Several holiday-themed songs followed including "The Whacky St. Nick Song" sung by students of Ms. Kreppel's class and "The Penguin Pokey", which saw students dressed up in tuxedo-ish penguin costumes adorned with bright red bow ties. 

The crowd of mostly parents and family beamed with pride as the class performances unfolded but when Carney announced a solo performance of "The Rainbow Connection" by Gunner, of Ms. Bechaud's class, the individual effort was tangibly anticipated. 

When Gunner began to sing it became apparent that Berner had helped pick the perfect song for her student's talents. Gunner sincerely captured the spirit of the song as he sang the questions, "What's so amazing that keeps us stargazing?  And what do we think we might see?" And as his performance in itself perfectly answered those questions it seemed there was not a dry eye in the room. 

The standing ovations were plentiful throughout the afternoon and punctuated songs by Ms. Bennett's class, who sang a rousing version of "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" replete with a student dressed in a green tree costume decked out in ornaments, and another solo effort this time featuring Stephanie of Ms. Wilhauk's class covering the Miley Cyrus tune "The Climb". 

"Twelve Days of Hockey brought a local-sports theme to the show as students of several classes dressed in St. Louis Blues outfits and used hockey-inspired "gifts" to help count down the days to Christmas including seven "pucks-a-sliding" and eight "helmets crashing." 

During the second to last number Litzsinger alumni, Charles Mueller" sang a warm version of "I Am Your Child" as part of a surprise tribute to Carney in recognition of his contribution to the school and the efforts of his charitable organization Carney's Kids, which raises money for Litzsinger and other local organizations. 

The finale brought out the full Litzsinger Chorus to sing "A Super Celebration" and the afternoon of humble, inspiring performances melted into numerous friendly greetings amongst parents and staff. 

Berner commented on the event as she received several bouquets of flowers thanking her for her efforts. 

"I learn more from my kids than probably what they learn from me. I learn life lessons. It's fun being able to explore so many different levels of music with the kids. Regardless of what your disability is, if you put a bell in your hand and you move your hand, you're making music."



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