Colwood teacher brings over 200 students virtually together to perform Christmas song

Every year Sangster Elementary in Victoria finishes the annual Christmas concert with a big all-class finale. Thanks to the music teacher trying something new, the event has avoided COVID-cancellation. David Zura explains.

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COLWOOD (NEWS 1130) — It’s been a very different Christmas for many of us in the COVID era; No large Christmas dinners with extended families, no Yuletide trips out of the country, and festive Christmas concerts cancelled.

That’s inspired a Vancouver Island Music teacher to take matters into his own hands, and spread some holiday cheer.

Students from kindergarten to grade five usually pack the Sangster Elementary gym in Colwood for a Christmas concert before winter break, but Chris Poynter says, that couldn’t happen this year due to the pandemic, and it was weighing on the children.

“Mr. Poynter, we’re so sad, we’re so disappointed we can’t do a Christmas concert, we’re never going to get to do another Christmas concert here,” he says his student told him.

So instead, Poynter recorded about 240 kids in each cohort singing a song called ‘It’s Finally Christmas’ mixing them together to replicate the sound of an entire school singing in unison.


Poynter hopes the song can be a bright spot during a tough year for families.

“Feedback I got from families who did reach out to me that it was touching, it was meaningful, it was special. It really made them feel good. I heard there were lots of happy tears listening to it,” he says.

And he says with the song uploaded online — the kids can remember this in the years to come.

“Some ways, I think this could be even better because they’re going to be able to take it with them. So they’ve got this little token now from this year.”

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