Syosset Sings for Newtown

The last Syosset Board of Education meeting of the year has always been one of high spirits as faculty join students on the South Woods Middle School auditorium stage to sing holiday hits. This year, however, a single solemn tune brought the audience to tears and later, to their feet in a standing ovation.

Between talks of increasing security and moments of arguing during the four-hour meeting, one song brought the room together

Led through the performance by Syosset's choral director Kristin Howell, Syosset High School singers performed a single song in memory of those who died on Friday. The replaced their trademark pink shirts and bowties for all black outfits and were joined by eight of the male singers in the aisles of the auditorium.

Board President Michael Cohen read "Newtown School Shooting: A poem of grief" which ended in the lines:

Oh Newtown, dear little town

Hate will not conquer

Love will prevail

Tears may never dry up

But love will prevail

The performance followed a lingering moment of remembrance where the entire auditorium stood in silence while a bell tolled 27 times.

Look for a separate story on the meeting on Patch.