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February 1, 2013

'Students are the music'

OHHS choir director McCoy is Apple Award recipient

SEATTLE - Darren McCoy stood before a packed house Friday night in Seattle Center's Intiman Playhouse and held up a book of sheet music.

"What is this?" he asked his audience. "Is this music?" He shook his head. "No. It's ink. Students are the music, right?"

McCoy, the choir director at Oak Harbor High School, was just introduced as the latest recipient of the Golden Apple Award, sponsored by KCTS television. He was one of 12 honorees, including nine teachers and three school programs, to be celebrated with a video tribute that will be aired on KCTS (channel 9) on February 20 at 7 pm.

"In a Navy town, on the tip of an island, if you listen hard enough, you just might hear singing," said KCTS host Enrique Cerna. "It just might be the choir at Oak Harbor High School, led by Darren McCoy. He's busy enough directing not just one, not two, but five choirs of happy singers . . . Darren's music classes are quick-paced, challenging, and they are always fun."

The audience was then treated to a three-minute video of McCoy and his students during a seven hour shoot that took place at Oak Harbor High School two months ago. The video demonstrated both the challenges and the fun of choir.

"My goal is that they are going to be able to navigate the musical world, even after they graduate," McCoy said in the video. "Hopefully, they will stay involved in music somehow, even if it's simply as a concert-goer."

Choir veteran Katie McClimans, a senior and Choir Club president, told KCTS that as a freshman it used to be kind of an insult to be referred to as a "choir nerd." But that's all changed. "Now it's like, 'hey, look at me I'm a choir nerd,' " she said with pride.

McCoy took over the high school choir program four years ago, fresh out of college. His second year teaching coincided with a new and popular television program - Glee - that caught the imaginations of his choir students because of its modern mix of high school dance and song. He asked the school board to allow him to create a new Glee-style class and the next year "Show Choir" was formed.

Show Choir immediately drew about 70 students, even though the class met before school at 7 a.m. each morning. It added energy to a program that already had the perennial award-winning Harbor Singers and the all-girl Treble Choir, as well as the wide-ranging Campus Choir.

This year, McCoy added to the program by starting "Man Choir," which mixes music with comedy and draws even more high school boys into singing. In fact, on the same day as the Apple Awards, McCoy and the Man Choir performed on stage at Western Washington University in Bellingham.

It's that ability to create a diverse program that includes all kinds of singers that caught the attention of Connie Punch, a member of the program's Music Boosters club. She traveled to Seattle just to see McCoy receive his award.

"I'm his biggest cheerleader," Punch said after the ceremony. Both of her kids were in the choir program, which allowed her to see how the music has impacted the lives of students. "The kids really are so determined and passionate to do the very best they can do - for him."

For a guy who is very used to being on stage in front of full audiences, McCoy said he was surprised how nervous he was in accepting his honor. He also noted that four of the nine teachers honored represented the arts. "I think it's a good demonstration of the value art brings to a student's life," he said. "The arts have real impact on how students view themselves and view the world."

After pointing out in his acceptance speech that it's the kids who make the music, not the notes on paper, McCoy went on to describe what drives him.

"That's why I teach music, because students are the ones who create the harmony, both musically, but also interpersonally," he said. "They demonstrate cultural awareness by studying music of various cultures - French, German - but also by accepting students of various backgrounds.

"But most of all, I love teaching music because when you teach a student to identify what makes music beautiful and worthy, they learn to identify what makes them beautiful and worthy."

The Golden Apple Awards airs February 20 at 7 p.m. on KCTS 9 and repeats February 24 at 1 p.m., February 25 at noon, and February 28 at 1 p.m.