In an effort to boost morale and keep his students singing at home, the music teacher at Mitchell Elementary School recently put together a virtual choir.

Albert Bergen says at first, he was reluctant to attempt a project like this because not only is it a technological challenge, but it also just isn’t the same as being in the same room. Then after more than a month without singing with his students he hit a really low point and decided to give it a go.

"I didn't do it to showcase something, that was never the reason. The reason was simply to get the kids together and to have them sing even if it would mean that the kids would sing more at home, that would be totally worth it. In the end it worked out both ways. The kids sang at home and we managed to put this video together for students and parents to watch. This project really had value for me the same as all my students and it helped me."

Bergen says the kids sang a song called “Grow Little Tree” which has kind of become their theme song recently because the schools logo is a big oak tree and the schools motto is MES A Great Place to Grow.

Charmaine Toews says her daughter Nadia is a grade 4 student at MES and she was more than happy to participate in the virtual choir assignment.

"He sent out an assignment that was optional for the kids to participate in. He just recorded himself singing the song and playing it and they put headphones in and sang along and it was just a nice way for them to get back into the choir"

Toews says from the moment the project was pitched she knew it would turn out amazing because Mr. Bergen is an exceptional teacher who always gets the best of the kids.

Nadia Toews says in the video she is in a grey t-shirt just to the right of Mr. Bergen. She notes it took her three tries to get the recording just right.

"I think it was really fun singing along with that song because I really like singing with my music teacher. he did it the way he teaches the grade one song. He sings the words to himself and then he writes down pictures so that they can kind of see instead of just hear it, they can see the words and then it is really easy to learn it that way."

Bergen says he didn’t know what to expect when the video was released but he says the response from parents, students, and even people he doesn’t know has been overwhelmingly positive. It has also given him the hope he really needed right now.