Music Makers Teacher: Winning is 'an Honor'

For the second year in a row, the Music Makers of Intermediate School , this time for NJ101.5’s Christmas Choir Contest.

The singers performed live in studio Friday morning and an hour later, on their bus ride back to Cinnaminson, heard the good news they won.

“The kids were cheering and waving,” said music teacher Natalia Sigmund. “Everybody was hugging. It was very exciting.”

However, the students didn’t even realize they won at first.

The first winner was announced in the elementary school contest; it was Ocean Township Elementary School.

“When they announced the name of the school for elementary, we were all really glum,” said 5th-grade Music Maker Gianna Gentile. “But they when they announced us for the middle school winner, we all cheered.”

Since Rush is an intermediate school, unbeknownst to the whole group they qualified for the middle school contest and won that division.

Monsignor Donovan High School in Toms River won the high school category, and the overall contest.

Rush walks away with $1,00 for their music program.

“It’s an honor,” Sigmund said. “It’s a testament to their hard work.”

The Music Makers performed three songs live in studio, one being their winning song, “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home).”

Sigmund said the students had no expectations going into the station to sing live—they had already made the finals of the contest.

“Winning is an extra bonus,” she said.

Last year, the Music Makers—a group of nearly 70 4th- and 5th-graders—won the . This year, they set their sights on the NJ101.5 contest.

Some parents of the Music Makers made the trip to Trenton to listen live, like Gianna’s mother, Michelle.

“The bus ride up was great, because the kids were singing on the way to the studio,” she said. “It was wonderful.”

The $1,000 could go toward a portable PA system, Sigmund said, since the Music Makers borrow a lot of equipment from other schools. Just this week, they had to borrow items when they performed at the Cinnaminson Manor nursing home.

The students wrote a letter to Sigmund, telling them they’d like to perform there.

“The children are starting to see what it means to give back,” Sigmund said. “It was a very profound experience. You should have seen the joy on the people’s faces. This win is just an extra bonus of a wonderful, wonderful thing.”