Aug. 29--CHECOTAH -- Carrie Underwood's hometown sang the country music superstar's praises Friday morning.
More accurately, they screeched them.
Hundreds of young Checotah Public Schools music students screamed with glee as Underwood shocked them with $117,000 worth of instruments for the band and vocal music programs.
"I love my job," said intermediate music teacher Kathy Cooper from the auditorium stage in the small high school from which the singer graduated. Underwood's fifth-grade music teacher joined her and the youngsters to make a surprise announcement.
"I've had most of you sitting out there. ... You never know, we might have some more stars out here," Cooper teased with a smile. The jam-packed arena hushed. "It's my greatest pleasure to introduce ..."
A collective gasp swept across the assembly. From those gasps erupted deafening howls of joy as the kids realized who had joined Cooper onstage.
"To the teachers, I'm sorry I completely disrupted your classes," Underwood said. "To the students, you're welcome!" she finished, then laughed.
The 26-year-old singer and Academy of Country Music's Entertainer of the Year, along with ACM Lifting Lives director Erin Spahn, pulled back the blue velvet curtain behind them, revealing 31 shiny new
band instruments.
"Mrs. Cooper gave me my first chance to perform on stage," said Underwood. "The music program is so important. ... My career has given me this opportunity to give back."
Underwood and her recently founded nonprofit --Checotah Animal, Town and Schools, or CATS -- joined ACM's Lifting Lives program to make the donation possible. Underwood's charity name is a spinoff of her school mascot, the Wildcats, she said.
Fifth-grader Kenedee Rittenhouse, 11, captivated students before the assembly when, on a whim, she stood on a chair to the side of the auditorium and sang Underwood's hit "So Small." Underwood, backstage at the time, took note.
The superstar called Rittenhouse to the stage for an impromptu duet while Underwood's keyboardist "broke in" the new electric piano.
As they sang, Rittenhouse shook. Then Underwood shook.
Rittenhouse cried. Underwood's eyes brimmed with tears as she placed her hand over her heart. Applause filled the auditorium.
"Take this stuff. Do what you love and love what you do," Underwood later said. A group of girls in the back yelled, "We love you Carrie!"
Rittenhouse returned to her seat and wept with joy. "Oh. My. Gosh," she said. "All I knew this morning was that we were having an assembly. We didn't know she would be here."
She wiped her eyes and smiled. "Singing with her was a one in a million opportunity and it was so awesome. ... She hugged me after and said 'Great job.'
"Yeah, I was a little bit nervous," the girl admitted.
She wasn't the only one.
"Carrie told me backstage that she's never been so nervous," said Brian Terry, Checotah High School principal, after the presentation. "She said that she can perform in front of thousands of people, but this program is very important to her.
"Our band program is both very good and very competitive. This gift has been in the works for months," said Terry.
All instruments were purchased through Yamaha Corporate Artist Affairs at a special philanthropic rate, said Brook Primero, senior director of publicity and marketing for the Academy of Country Music.
Instruments included tubas, saxophones, woodwinds, horns, a guitar and more.
Afterward, Underwood said hello to her former teachers and stood for pictures -- lots of pictures.
"I think it's great for kids to see that they can do anything," said Underwood. "I want to help teach them to be responsible for their futures, to be great and to follow their dreams."
She reminisced about her favorite music teacher.
"Last night I was looking at old videos of me singing on stage. I was yay high, 6 or 7 years old," she said, then smiled. "Mrs. Cooper thought it was a good idea to sing all by myself.
"Mrs. Cooper's always been such a positive influence," said Underwood.
Nearly a decade after Underwood last performed on that very stage, the busy singer also talked about her upcoming album release, due this fall. "It'll be my third album -- that's hard to believe," said the multiplatinum-selling musician.
"Then next year comes another big tour. I'll be back home for that. I love coming home.
"Every show stop gets louder the closer I get to home. After, I can sit on my porch with my dog and cat and just be home.
Tickets on sale for Hall of Fame concert Carrie Underwood will be inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame on Sept. 17, along with Oklahoma artists and performers Rocky Frisco and Ramona Reed. All three will perform. Tickets are now on sale.
Underwood is the Academy of Country Music's Entertainer of the Year, an "American Idol" winner, four-time Grammy winner and an Oklahoma music icon. The class of 2009 inductees will join the roster of former inductees, including Vince Gill, Toby Keith, Merle Haggard, Wanda Jackson, the All-American Rejects and more.
C.H. Parker, longtime music instructor and director at Northeastern State University, will be honored with the Governor's Award.
The induction and concert is 7 p.m. Sept. 17 at the Muskogee Civic Center, 405 Boston St. in downtown Muskogee.
Reserved seat tickets to the concert and induction ceremony are available at tulsaworld.com/OMHoF or call (918) 687-0800 for information. Tickets are $39.95 to $175, plus fees.
The gift On Friday, Carrie Underwood's Checotah Animal, Town and Schools foundation and the Academy of Country Music's Lifting Lives charity donated 31 instruments to the Checotah Public Schools' music program:
--4 cornets
--2 sousaphones
--2 concert tubas
--2 marching baritones
--2 concert baritones
--2 French horns
--2 tenor saxophones
--2 alto saxophones
--2 bass clarinets
--2 flugelhorns
--1 baritone saxophone
--1 oboe
--1 set of concert bells
--1 xylophone
--1 marimba
--1 vibraphone
--1 electric guitar
--1 guitar amp
--1 clavinova (electric piano)
On TV Country crooners Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley did so well their first time hosting the Country Music Association Awards in 2008, they got the gig again. The pair will host the awards 7 p.m. Nov. 11 on ABC, live from Nashville's Sommet Center.
Nominations for the 2009 awards will be announced in September.
The pair has plenty of CMA wins. Paisley has 11 CMA trophies; Underwood has five.
Jennifer Chancellor 581-8346 jennifer.chancellor@tulsaworld.com
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