The All-Area Festival was hosted at Ralston Valley on Monday night, October 29, and involved Oberon Middle School and many elementary schools such as Meiklejohn, Sierra Elementary, Van Arsdale, West Woods, and Three Creeks.

The night started with a song entitled, “Give Us Hope,” and Meiklejohn’s choir director, Marisa Rodriguez, said, “‘Give Us Hope’ is so inspirational and so important, especially for our time in the world today. Even for me, I want to cry a little, it just melts me.” The song truly brought a sense of community to the choirs and showed the audience that the groups in front of them were the future. The song lyrics include phrases such as, “Give us hope, my voice is calling, can’t you see? Look in my eyes. Can you feel? My hand is reaching. Give us hope and we’ll show you the way.” It shows that the older generations are supposed to support the younger generations as they begin to lead the new future.

The last song that was sung, “American Hymn,” which featured lyrics from America the Beautiful. Rodriguez stated, “I think it’s really touching. For “America The Beautiful” it’s important that all kids know it.” The large crowd of elementary schoolers sang out the melody cheerfully and beautifully, while the crowd joined in for the last run of the chorus. It was truly beautiful to see that sense of unity and community.

The importance of community is extremely important and crucial for young kids.”It’s important for kids to understand what they are feeding into as they get older and to see the older kids super involved and working hard and excited it very important for our kids,” Rodriguez stated. The event had a sense of unity and an abundance of welcoming warmth as well, creating a space of immense support.