High school choir connects while social distancing with acappella version of 'Somewhere Over The Rainbow'

The high school choir of Chino Valley Unified School District in Chino, California, found a way to remain connected, even after their school year was officially dismissed until May 1, 2020.

All high school members of the choir joined together via video to sing an acappella version of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow."

The school's director of communication, Imee Perius, said the idea spurred from the #SpreadHopeCVUSD hashtag aimed at consoling students, educators and families during this tumultuous time in their education.

"People get sad that they won’t see their favorite teacher anymore or they [can’t perform] at the concert," said Perius, who also said the high school choir has a few seniors experiencing their last few months of high school social distancing.

"If you’re a senior, you think, 'what happens to prom? What happens to graduation? What happens to spirit days at school?'" said Perius. "It’s overwhelming to just wrap your head around, so we’re taking it day-by-day."

The CVUSD high school choir still wanted to make the most of it, said Perius.

"They were so excited about [the video] because they thought it the perfect way that they could give back and they could contribute," said Perius, who added that it wasn’t an easy feat to pull off.

"You’re at home, you’re remote, you have to sing your portion into a camera phone," she added. "But they all did, and it took about 24 hours for all of them to come together and send me everything electronically."

After the video was stitched together and the voices synced, it was posted on Tuesday to YouTube, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook and immediately met with so much positivity from around the world, said Perius.

"We’ve reached half a million people on Facebook alone," said Perius. "It really is incredible. These students wanted to give back to their community, but the world is giving back to these students."