For someone with the nickname Chicken Wing, chicken wings can be a really good motivator for just about anything. LHS choir teacher Nicole Stewart thought it would be a good idea to challenge her student Nairobi Cross, a.k.a. Chicken Wing by telling her that if she made Sweepstakes in choir, she would buy her some chicken wings as a reward. Nairobi was in ninth grade when her choir teacher made the promise, and after years of competition, it was time for Ms. Stewart to make good on the wings.

In JV choir, Nairobi said they missed winning Sweepstakes because of a score of 2 on site reading. Last year the competition didn’t happen because of COVID-19. This year was her year to work with her classmates and get it right.

“You compete as a class. Fourteen out of seventeen students competed because a stomach bug hit. We had only one student singing bass. The competition involved an onstage performance and site reading,” said Ms. Stewart.

The site reading portion of the competition can be very difficult. The students have to site read a newly composed, never seen music selection. Ms. Stewart said that Nairobi is a good site reader.

“I’ve been in the choir since 7th grade. I love singing,” said Nairobi.

Once the results were in, Ms. Stewart knew she needed to find some chicken wings. She called up the manager at Buffalo Wild Wings and told them Nairobi’s story.

“I thought they would give a gift card for just the student and they wanted to know how many participated. I told the manager 17. They donated 250 boneless wings and two trays of potato wedges. They have always been very supportive of the district,” said Ms. Stewart.

Chicken Wing was overwhelmed.

“I always have loved wings. My favorite flavor is buffalo. It was my first time to try Buffalo Wild Wings. It was really good. I’ll have to go there some time,” said Nairobi.

The next big event for the LHS choir is their pop concert on May 14 at the Tom Jack Lucas Auditorium. The event is patterned after MTV and will have chart toppers from the early 80’s, 90’s and 2000’s. The choir will be singing fan favorites like “Video Killed the Radio Star”.  Make sure to come hear Nairobi sing lead on the song “Thriller”.

This year has been challenging with the students wearing masks to sing. The district has provided the students with masks that have inserts that keep it from resting on the mouth.

“This year we were catching up especially because of all of the challenges. We focused a lot on bonding and creating our family, and they still pulled it off,” said Ms. Stewart.

Next year, Nairobi will be a senior and looking forward to attending Angelina College to participate in the nursing program. She has enjoyed having Ms. Stewart who challenges the students and makes them better each year.

Nairobi said, “Ms. Stewart is the best music teacher. She’s the nicest and the sweetest. She’s up there with chicken wings.”