- May 4, 2024
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Flagler Palm Coast High School ninth grader K’imani Gervin-McCoy has been selected to sing the national anthem at the 2024 opening session of the Florida Legislature on Tuesday, Jan. 9.
Gervin-McCoy, who turned 15 on Dec. 31, is scheduled to sing at both the House and joint sessions at the invitation of House Speaker Paul Renner of Palm Coast.
Gervin-McCoy, her mother Tahlia McCoy, and Jeffrey Reeves, Flagler Schools' director of Teaching and Learning, will travel to Tallahassee on Tuesday morning where they will be welcomed by Renner and his staff at the Floria Capitol. They also will tour the Capitol and, following K’imani’s performances before the state’s legislators, will have lunch before returning to Flagler County.
Though K’imani will miss the first day of school following the winter break, she will be back in class on Wednesday.
Some Flagler County residents already are familiar with K’imani’s musical gift. She has participated and won talent shows, including last year’s Youth Talent Show on May 26 when she was an eighth-grader at Buddy Taylor Middle School. She won the middle division at the show for the second year in a row.
Her voice has a maturity and distinctiveness beyond her years. Her mom reveals that K’imani has been singing since she was a toddler, and her dedication and love of singing has only grown over the years.
Though she has lived in Tennessee and Daytona Beach, K’imani has spent most of her life in Flagler County. She has three younger siblings who are also musical. K’imani’s mom, Tahlia McCoy, serves as her coach and, understandably, is quite proud of her daughter’s accomplishments.
In preparation for her big day at the state Capitol, Gervin-McCoy, accompanied by her mom and grandmother, stopped by the Fitzgerald Performing Arts Center at Flagler Auditorium on Jan. 4 to practice the anthem. She rehearsed with Amelia Fulmer, the arts center's director, who shared warm-up exercises and pointers on which notes of the venerable song to emphasize and how to pace herself.
