More Than 100 CCSD Elementary Students Take the Stage at Annual Honor Chorus Concert

More than 100 of Cherokee County School District's top young vocalists recently came together for the annual CCSD Elementary School Honor Chorus, a district-wide program that selects standout singers from elementary schools across the county for a full day of intensive musical instruction and a culminating evening performance.

The event was held at Reinhardt University's Falany Performing Arts Center in Waleska, a professional-grade concert hall that gives students the experience of performing in a world-class venue, a far cry from a typical school gymnasium. Students spent the day rehearsing under the direction of guest conductor Dr. Martha Shaw, with accompanist Marcena Kinney at the piano, before taking the stage together that evening in a formal concert.

Credit Union of Georgia, a CCSD Partner, sponsored the cost of commemorative shirts for all participating students, ensuring every young performer had a keepsake from the experience. The matching red shirts, visible across the concert photos, gave the large ensemble a unified, polished look on the Falany stage.

Students represented 20 elementary schools spanning Cherokee County's broad geographic reach. The full roster of the 2026 CCSD Elementary School Honor Chorus, organized by school, is as follows:

Arnold Mill ES: Caia Davidson, Warren Decker, Elliott Tate, Norah-Jane Watson, and Haven Woods (teacher Sarah Shiver); Avery ES: Aria Collins, Evelyn Dobson, Porter Mitchell, Ella Williams, and Easton Young (teacher David Boggs); Ball Ground ES STEM Academy: Rose Arnold, Tatiana Davila-Reyes, Luna VonEppinger, Paxtyn Weaver, and Charlotte Williams (teacher Jessica Nohner); Bascomb ES: Emery Cadenhead, Lennon McManus, Addison Stevens, Kylie Stevens, and Laniyah Woods (teacher Jenn Melvin); Boston ES: Olivia Bunn, Gianna Cintron, Alice Crider, Isla Forshee, and Riley Ramey (teacher Miriam Homiller); Clark Creek ES STEM Academy: Emma DeSpain, Trinity Houston, Ansley Medford, Jordan Nguyen, and Ryann Porter (teacher Kimberly Knuchel); Clayton ES: Josie Andrews, Lora Capo, Miles Guyette, Mason Jones, and Aubrey Mize (teacher Joseph Snell); Free Home ES: Maddie Cochran, Debanhi Hernandez Gonzalez, Cooper Jacobs, Sara Moten, and Ethan Murphy (teacher Joseph Snell).

Hasty ES Fine Arts Academy: Kiley Bekebrede, Sofia Bonilla-Flores, Annalise Collier, Ava Dukes, and Juliana Walker (teacher Lauren Rowe); Hickory Flat ES: Noel Butler, Adeline Butterworth, Charlotte Fabian, Emiliana Lopez, and Jana Simmons (teacher Noah Pirkle); Holly Springs ES STEM Academy: Preslie Bocanegra, Joy Braga, Lillian Essig, Joei Formby, and Grace Mokiienko (teacher Jennifer McCarthy); Indian Knoll ES: Jimena Armas, Lenna Richter, Marshall Share, Thomas Share, and Bryleigh Watkins (teacher Matthew George); Johnston ES: Myra-Lynn Durham, Sophia Earl, Katelyn Loudermilk, Ainsley Nemec, and Sara Zuleta (teacher Meredith Peacock); Knox ES STEM Academy: Summer Alexander, Alessia Brown, Mitchell Grauso, Knox Hedmann, and Susanna Primm (teacher Leslee McKean); Liberty ES: Dior Flores, Giselle Garcia Ramirez, Jackson Matthews, Tinley Williams, and Kyndal Zapp (teacher Christian Flesher); Macedonia ES: Joshua Goeringer, Nora Harvill, Scarlett Koehler, Gigi Nel, and Charlotte Rhea (teacher Dalton Hancock); Mountain Road ES: Paylin Barnett, Charlotte Brostrom, Cecilia Lukens, Sophia Mendez, Kayleigh Patrick, and Aislyn Smith (teacher Kristina Whitley); Oak Grove ES STEAM Academy: Emilia Aquino, Leo Aquino, Anna Doerfler, Izabella Lyon, and Sofia Sapugay (teacher Bowen Hartzog); R.M. Moore ES STEM Academy: Ava Bailey, Zoie Chambers, Berkley Cornelison, Kamryn Dutko, and Charly Hawkins (teacher Dr. Ben Sexton); Sixes ES: Evelyn Andretta, Alyssa Benavides, Maren Blend, Griffin Mincey, and Mateo Toro (teacher Emma Neumeister).

What makes the Honor Chorus meaningful goes beyond a single evening of music. Cherokee County operates one of the largest school districts in Georgia, serving tens of thousands of students across dozens of campuses. In a district that size, it's easy for high-achieving students in specialized areas like music to excel quietly within their own school walls and never encounter peers who share the same passion. The Honor Chorus changes that. Selected by their own music teachers as the strongest vocalists at their schools, these students spend a full day working alongside talented singers they've never met, learning from a guest conductor, and performing together on a stage that demands their best. That combination, peer challenge, expert instruction, and a professional venue, is something no individual school concert can replicate.

Reinhardt University has long served as a community partner for arts and cultural programming in Cherokee County. Its Falany Performing Arts Center provides an acoustically refined, professional concert environment that underscores the seriousness with which CCSD treats music education, and sends students home having experienced something genuinely different from a typical school event.