VANCOUVER, Wash. — When school was let out in March, students didn't think it would be their final goodbye of the year. Mountain View High School choir teacher Jenny Bell wanted to hear her students sing once more. It's not a graded assignment, but a way to bring everyone together through music.
"There was a lot of things we missed about not getting that closure. It's like the end of a really good book that we didn't get to have the ending of and we just missed each other and missed making music together," Bell said.
Students past and present were asked and within minutes Bell had a dozen signed on to perform a song. Some were originals, others were favorites. Think of it as a front porch talent show of sorts.
Senior Sophie Hanson chose "Count on Me" by Bruno Mars.
"I picked 'Count on Me' because it's kind of talking about the friendship and counting on each other during hard times. I figured that was just perfect during a time right now. I feel like right now, people kind of is all we have since there's really nothing else to do besides school work," Hanson said.
Hanson, like every senior, had their final year upended by a virus and will miss out on those once-in-a-lifetime opportunities, like prom and maybe even a graduation ceremony.
"I was honestly heartbroken."
Hanson plans to attend Grand Canyon University in Phoenix next year and pursue a biology major with an emphasis on pre-physical therapy.
Hanson also missed her final concert, which would have been a state competition.
"Sophie and I, our quartet made to state for the first time ever for choir. We don't get to go to that either, which sucks," says fellow senior Elin Bertheau.
Bertheau sang her own take on "Yesterday" by the Beatles.
"It made me kind of sad because I was thinking about it because I wish I could go back to yesterday, like when I didn't have to worry about all this coronavirus and canceling everything," she said. "One of the things I repeat is I believe in quarantine, because I know that quarantine is really important for preparing hospitals. My dad's a doctor."
Elin has a full-ride scholarship to the University of Utah. "I just hope I get to go and not start on online classes," she said.
At at time when we are all apart, music might be one of the things that can bring us all together.
"It just brings everybody together when you're listening to a song you were in a different moment. You can kind of go back to that moment and all be there together in sort of the same feeling," Bertheau said.
Sophie Hanson agreed, "I think you have different moods when you listen to certain types of music. I know when I'm listening to music that I know and I enjoy, I can't help but sing along. I know that singing brings joy to me. I know a lot of the people that enjoy the porch concerts, it brings joy to them too."
For Bell, it's a sense of pride in her students and a way to hear their beautiful voices once more.
"They're like my children. I love them very much and I'm very proud of them. It doesn't take the place of them being together. It doesn't take the place of singing with each other."
If you'd like to listen to the songs, every night at 5 p.m. Evergreen Public Schools will upload a different concert to their social media pages.
They will continue this until the end of the year and hope to get more high schools in their district to sign up.