Over 20 students from across Northern Lights School Division had the thrill of a lifetime on Feb. 24, as they joined Johnny Reid on stage at the Cold Lake Energy Centre.
Reid, a chart-topping, multi-platinum signer/songwriter, was in Cold Lake for the 18th stop of his 47-show “What Love Is All About” tour.
After wowing the audiences with songs like “Fire It Up” and “A Woman Like You,” Reid invited 21 teenage singers up on stage to join him in singing “Today I'm Gonna Try and Change the World”.
“It was an amazing experience. It was so life changing. It gave me an opportunity to express myself on stage with a bunch of very talented young men and women,” said Savannah Mack, a Grade 12 student at Glendon School.
Students from Cold Lake High School, Nelson Heights School and J.A. Williams School joined Mack on stage. The group impressed Reid's band by successfully singing the song in a three-part harmony during the sound check. It was during this quick run through of the song where the students had a chance to meet and interact with Reid.
“When I first got told I was going to sing I was nervous. Those are huge shoes to standing behind,” said Mack. “Then when I finally got there and got up on stage and did the sound check it was absolutely no nerves. They completely disappeared.”
With hours to kill between the sound check and the actual performance the students were given their own room and used the time to get to know each other, along with fine-tuning their song.
“I brought my guitar and we sat and sang together, mingled, got to know each other and worked on the song,” said Mack, who had practiced and learned the lyrics prior to the show.
“I did end up knowing it before hand because my family is a huge fan of Johnny. It turned out really well in the end.”
Johnny Reid Management contacted Heather Stromquist of NLSD late on Feb. 19 about the opportunity for students to join the singer on stage. Officials were sent scrambling on Feb. 22 to try and find a fair way to select the students. Due to time constraints they decided to open it up as a first-come first-serve opportunity.
“It filled up within about an hour and we had a waiting list,” said Stromquist, who ensured every school across the division was notified of the opportunity.
Stromquist email made it to Glendon principal Janice Meunch, who then let Mack know about the chance to sing with Reid at his Cold Lake performance.
“It was a spur of the moment thing,” said Mack, who is a signer and guitar player that has entered a variety of competitions around the Lakeland over the past few years.
“I loved it. He is so kind. It was honestly one of the best experiences of my life. I would hands down do it again,” said Mack, who was lucky enough to get her guitar autographed by Reid.
“It was just magical to watch happen,” added Stomquist.
