By Michael D Clark
HAMILTON TWP, OH — Sarah Baker has brought a proud song to a school community once muted by financial despair. The Little Miami High School Director of Choral Music works in Southwest Ohio’s most financially troubled school system and she has seen how historically deep budget cuts sliced away local school pride.
But her girls’ choir’s unexpectedly spectacular performance at the recent World Choir Games in Cincinnati – winning the silver medal in the Champions Division of Youth Choirs for Equal Voices – has bolstered the community. The district remains in “fiscal emergency” and under state control. “People around here really appreciated it. It was our first international competition and I guess I was surprised because I didn’t know what to expect,” says Baker, a mother of three and an 11-year-veteran of the schools. Lesley Kennedy, whose daughter Jaynesings with the choir, jokingly summed up the reaction of many in the community. “Not bad for a bunch of country girls,” says Kennedy. Baker is a former winner of the Warren County Project Excellence Award for teaching.
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