Every student at Waller Mill Elementary School can call themselves award-winning singers thanks to one performance.
In December, Waller Mill was selected as one of the grand prize winners in the Michael & Sons Services jingle contest, earning the school a $5,000 prize.
Begun by Michael & Sons owner Basim Mansour, the contest invited schools from Hampton Roads and throughout the mid-Atlantic region to submit videos covering the company’s television jingle
Waller Mill Elementary Principal Jennifer Goodwin found out about the contest through an email in October. Goodwin knew her students had a knack for the arts — Waller Mill houses the York County School Division’s fine arts magnet school.
“I sent it to [music teacher Terri Lensenmayer] and said, ‘This is us,’” Goodwin said.
Lensenmeyer said she had no expectations for the contest, but thought it would be a fun exercise for her students. She said she considered several ways to innovate on the existing jingle, but decided to keep it simple.
“We messed around for a bit, but we decided we would just stick with their jingle and have the kids sing it” Lensenmayer said.
Producing the video required the school’s full participation. Its final scene includes every Waller Mill student singing the final notes of the company jingle.
“We had the whole school involved in this last shot,” Lensenmayer said. “We have a pretty excitable group of kids.”
Once the video was recorded, Lensenmeyer sent it to Michael & Son. In November, the company posted all of the submitted videos to its website and let members of the public vote for their favorites. The votes were non-binding, but the company would consider them as a factor in choosing the winners.
After watching the other videos, Lensenmayer said she did not have high hopes for Waller Mill’s chances of winning.
“I thought there was just no way,” she said.
Six weeks later, the school received an unexpected telephone call. It was Mansour. Waller Mill was the winner for the Norfolk region, and would receive a $5,000 prize.
“I ran into the office shouting, ‘We won! We won!’” Lensenmayer said.
While Lensenmayer had been skeptical of the school’s chances of winning, Goodwin thinks she knows what put Waller Mill ahead of the competition.
“Most schools only used one class [of students],” she said. “We had the whole school involved.”
Goodwin said the school had not yet decided how to spend the prize money, but said potential projects included new instruments for the music room or a special performance for the students.
Lensenmayer had another idea.
“Since every kid was in [the video], I think we should do something that will touch every kid,” Lensenmayer said.
Lensenmayer said a good way to do that would be to organize an arts trip to Richmond, taking the school to see a theater performance or visit a museum, along with a nice lunch.
“Make it a day they’ll actually remember,” she said.
