Pine Trail, Tomoka and Ormond Beach Elementary students like chime choir because it's NOT like 'some stuff on the radio'

For the next week, 19 elementary students will put their Belib-ing aside in exchange for something classical.

By Emily Blackwood
| 4:16 p.m. January 26, 2016

Pine Trail Elementary students Ava Franco, 11, Sofia Harris, 10, Matthew Monroe, 11, Alyssa Hanflink, 11, Alex Razo, 10, Ethan Piazza, 10, smile for the camera....

....and then make a silly face.

Tomoka Elementary School besties Sheridan O'Sullivan, 10, and Saige O'Reilly, 10, are both excited to get on stage (Photos by Emily Blackwood)

Pine Trail Elementary Music Teacher Denise Ray "chimes" along with Alyssa Hanflink and Ava Franco.

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"When you wake up in the morning for practice, you look forward to playing with your friends."

Now it's not video games, soccer or even dance that 11-year-old Alyssa Hanflink looks forward to in the morning. It's chime choir.

Chime, a simple bell instrument, is what Hanflink and 18 other students chosen from Pine Trail, Tomoka and Ormond Beach Elementary signed up to spend a few afternoons learning how to play. Though the educational experience for these young minds is certainly beneficial, their parents were not the driving force behind this lesson.

"It reminds me of a different music," 10-year-old Saige O'Reilly pondered in her pink hoodie. "It's just classic, and some of the stuff on the radio is not classic."

"I like it because it actually helps me concentrate more when I'm in school," said Ava Franco, 11, as she dug around in her backpack that looked like a hamburger.

By Feb. 5, the students will have learned enough music to perform at the All-County Elementary Music Showcase held at 7 p.m. at Deland High School — an experience one of the choir's instructors knows all too well.

"I did it when I was in school," said Denise Ray, former Tomoka Elementary School student and current Pine Trail Elementary music teacher. "I did regular choir, like a chorus. The chime choir is a new addition to the music showcase.

Just like when she was 10 years old, she hopes her students enjoy the feel of being on stage and entertaining an audience.

"It gives them a sense of teamwork, as they work together for a common goal rather than achieve something solo."

That sense of teamwork was felt — as were many pats on the back —after the chime choir made their first cohesive attempt at a performance Tuesday afternoon.