Students from past 20 years surprise choir director with special performance
May 24, 2018, 12:08 AM | Updated: May 25, 2018, 12:59 am
PLEASANT GROVE, Utah – A Pleasant Grove choir teacher got an anniversary gift to remember Wednesday evening.
Jim Wilcock has taught choir at Pleasant Grove High School for 20 years. As he directed the year-end concert, students from those past 20 years gathered in secret in the cafeteria, rehearsing a song for him.
“He was so fun and built confidence in me that I’ve always carried with me this whole time,” Erin Kern said.
“He’s just had an incredible influence on me, and my voice and my confidence as a teenager, and I couldn’t help but pay that back,” Stephanie Behlke said.
As Wilcock’s current students finished their performance, his past students filed into the auditorium singing their song for him.
“I don’t know, almost indescribable!” Wilcock said after the students finished their song.
After 20 years of teaching, Wilcock said the surprise couldn’t come at a better time.
“You kind of forget a little bit of why you do it, so it was a great reminder to me of why I’m doing this – why I’m here and what the whole point is,” he said.
The surprise didn’t end with the special performance. The past students all pooled their money to send Wilcock and his wife to St. Croix in June.
