SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Meet the fourth- and fifth-graders who are superstars on the internet.
PS22 CHORUS: (Singing) If you want to sing out, sing out. And if you want to be free, be free.
SIMON: It's an elementary school chorus from Staten Island, New York, known as PS22. And for decades, the program has been on a quest to teach children...
UNIDENTIFIED STUDENT #1: (Laughter).
SIMON: ...To be authentic.
UNIDENTIFIED STUDENT #1: Look, we listen, and we don't judge. OK.
PS22 CHORUS: (Singing) You know that there are.
SIMON: To mark this year's 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States, NPR is bringing you stories from across the country that illustrate American life, liberty and pursuit of happiness for a series we're calling America in Pursuit. Today, NPR's Isabella Gomez Sarmiento takes us on a field trip to PS22.
ISABELLA GOMEZ SARMIENTO, BYLINE: It's a Monday afternoon in Staten Island.
GREGG BREINBERG: Yes. Great.
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: Dozens of kids are gathered in the auditorium...
BREINBERG: Yes.
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: ...Warming up to start chorus rehearsal.
BREINBERG: (Vocalizing) Whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop.
PS22 CHORUS: (Vocalizing) Whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop.
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: It's not a fancy school, but the walls are covered with framed photos of the chorus alongside Beyonce and Stevie Nicks. Today...
BREINBERG: Mayor Mamdani sent a beautiful letter of thank you.
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: That's music teacher Gregg Breinberg, aka, Mr. B. He founded the chorus more than 25 years ago. This year, the kids were invited to perform at Zohran Mamdani's mayoral inauguration, alongside Mandy Patinkin.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
MANDY PATINKIN AND PS22 CHORUS: (Singing) Somewhere over the rainbow...
BREINBERG: Why was this such a very, very special, historic inauguration? Logan (ph)?
LOGAN: It was one of the first Muslim mayors in America.
BREINBERG: One of the first Muslim mayors in America and the very first in New York City.
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: Part of the reason that hits home is that the PS22 Chorus was in its early days when September 11 happened.
BREINBERG: We had a boy named Osama (ph). He was a fourth-grader. He just came to the school and 9/11 - I mean, it was literally the very start of the school year. So this boy has to start his school career at a brand-new school with this name. It broke my heart.
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: In 2002, Breinberg and the kids made a movie about 9/11. It wove in real interviews with the fictional story lines.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
JASMINE LAWRENCE: (As spirit guide) It's OK to feel sad.
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: Jasmine Lawrence (ph), a fifth-grader at the time, played the role of a spirit guide, helping a student understand their feelings.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
LAWRENCE: (As spirit guide) And it's so important that we express this sadness. But if we only feel sad and we only feel afraid, then the bad guys have won.
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: Lawrence, now in her 30s, remembers how cathartic it was for her to be a part of that project, especially at a time when many kids felt like there was nothing they could do.
LAWRENCE: I think it was really great to be a part of some positive thing.
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: She says seeing the PS22 kids performing at Mayor Mamdani's inauguration shows her how far the city has come since her time in the chorus.
LAWRENCE: We have made a lot of changes because of what we learned from that day. We have grown and united as a country, as a nation.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PATINKIN AND PS22 CHORUS: (Singing) Someday I'll wish upon a star and wake up where the clouds are far behind me.
BREINBERG: Singing - it's not just about learning notes and learning rhythms and, you know, learning lyrics. It's really about connecting.
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: At PS22, students are encouraged to express themselves and support one another through music.
PS22 CHORUS: (Singing) So sentimental. Not sentimental. No. Romantic, not disgusting yet.
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: And it's taken them to big places, from the Academy Awards to presidential inaugurations.
PS22 CHORUS: (Singing) Just dance.
UNIDENTIFIED STUDENT #2: (Singing) Gonna be all right. Da-da-doo-doot.
PS22 CHORUS: (Singing) Just dance.
UNIDENTIFIED STUDENT #2: (Singing) Spin that record, babe.
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: Clips of the chorus' rehearsals and performances have gone viral for more than a decade.
PS22 CHORUS: (Singing) Can I sail through the changin' ocean tide? Can I handle the season of my life?
AMBER NOBUS: Whenever we sing, we use our emotion to put it into the song, and we make it come alive.
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: Fifth-grader Amber Nobus (ph) shares how the pros do it.
AMBER: You can show it with your hands, but it's most important if you show it with your face - like, your eyes.
PS22 CHORUS: (Singing) 'Cause I've been afraid of changin'.
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: While many choruses are taught to stand tall and sing seriously, Breinberg teaches the kids to feel the music. Early in his career, when he just started teaching, Breinberg had a student who struggled to stay still while performing. Breinberg says although the little boy was a soloist at his former chorus, the intermediate school wouldn't accept him because he couldn't stop rocking.
BREINBERG: That was, like, a life-changing moment - definitely a career-changing moment for me, and I never made those kids stand still again. And I just said, you know, let's have fun with it.
PS22 CHORUS: (Singing) We're goin' up, up, up. It's our moment. You know together we're glowin', gonna be, gonna be golden.
BREINBERG: We try to bring out the best in each other, and we try to make sure that everyone feels respected and everyone feels that they have value.
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: There are now about 90 kids in the PS22 Chorus. Some of the students, like Jacob King (ph), say it's what makes them want to come to school.
JACOB KING: I have that at least once every week.
BREINBERG: Yeah.
JACOB: Like, I ask my parents if I can stay home. And then, right as they say yes, I say never mind. It's a chorus day. I'm going.
PS22 CHORUS: (Singing) PS22...
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: Isabella Gomez Sarmiento, NPR News, New York.
PS22 CHORUS: (Singing) ...We sing to you with only heart... Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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