AASA’s Singing Superintendents performed at the 2019 National Conference on Education by opening the 3rd General Session on Saturday.

The 20-minute program included patriotic songs, a playful Sesame Street theme song and two hits from movies in tribute to the host city, Los Angeles.

The Singing Superintendents began their concert with the national anthem and “Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor,” a poem that is inscribed on the Statue of Liberty. The mood shifted when they performed Sesame Street’s playful lyrics to two more poignant tunes – “I Dream a Dream” from the movie “Les Miserables” and “The Rose” by Bette Midler.
David Cox, AASA Executive Committee member and superintendent of Allegany County Public Schools in Cumberland, Md., directs the Singing Superintendents.

The 10 voices in this year’s edition of the Singing Superintendents were accompanied on piano by Barry Furze, a retired South Dakota superintendent. Benny Gooden, retired superintendent of the Fort Smith Public Schools in Arkansas and the former leader of the group, joined the performers this year.

The Singing Superintendents welcome any conference participant who is interested to join rehearsals at future conferences. Superintendents, spouses, retired superintendents and a school attorney were this year’s performers.

Read Theresa Alban’s blog post about this event.

(Liz Griffin is senior editor for AASA’s Conference Daily Online.)