Magan Slesinger is the coordinator of the Fine, Applied, and Performing Arts department in the Watertown schools. She has very bad stage fright when it comes to singing, so her hands were shaking when she performed at the karaoke fund-raiser.

Multiple teachers sang, from beautiful singing to humorous. Karaoke was one of the Pennies for Patients fund-raisers at Watertown Middle School. Each homeroom had to bring in $10 to attend and the audience could donate to the cause as well.

Ms. Slesinger sang “A Way Back to Then” with her beautiful voice. She likes to be very honest about her stage fright because she wants students to know it’s OK to get nervous. She believes it is always worth it to push through the nerves and go for it.

Abby Casey, the music, choir, and theatre teacher at WMS, says karaoke is a mix of nervous energy, bravery, and excitement! Her advice was to “choose a song you are comfortable with, but consider choosing a song that you won’t mind looking like a fool in case you mess up completely.”

Jenessa Grant cheered up the crowd by using a more upbeat song, “Shake It Off” by Taylor Swift. The song is about how Taylor is telling her fans that she doesn’t care about people’s opinions. In the song, Taylor sings, “the haters gonna hate,” implying that people are going to do what they do, but that won’t stop her and she will “Shake it off.”

Ms. Grant says karaoke was really fun, but also really scary. She picked the song three weeks before the show, and practiced every day in the car. She even watched the video to match T. Swift’s clothes.

When the day came, she wanted to tell Ms. Morris she was too sick to sing, but she didn’t want to let anybody down. By the end of the song, she was having a fun time and many of the students were singing along with her. Next year, she wants to perform something by a man for her lower vocal range.

–April 27, 2017–