By KATIE LEFEBVRE, Globe staff reporter
November 6, 2003

The third and fourth grade students from the Catholic Schools of Sioux City will use their gift of music to perform with NewSong at the Catholic Charities Families in Need Concert.

Catholic Charities continues to reach out to individuals, organizations and businesses who have the interest and means to support their mission. With this in mind, the agency initiated the Annual Families in Need Concert in 2002 to benefit the families they serve. This continues for the second year with a concert at the Orpheum in Sioux City.

The students will be singing two songs with NewSong, Christmas Shoes and You're a Mean One Mr. Grinch.

"I have talked to them about the gift that God has given them, the gift of their voice and how important that is going to be," said Sister Julie Tebbe, music teacher for Mater Dei School. "They're the ones now telling the story with their song, their voices and their music with NewSong. That's one of the greatest gifts you can give people because music has a way of reaching people and speaking to people in a way that words alone can't do. That's an awesome responsibility. That gets them really pumped up."

Preparation for the concert started within the last couple of weeks when teachers received the information they needed, but the schools have known about the concert for a while.

"They love it," said Sister Julie. "When I first brought up the group NewSong, they didn't know who they were. I told them that from my experience of NewSong, each of their songs tells a story."

Sister Julie spent one day talking to her students about the messages in the songs by NewSong in preparation to sing in the concert. She played the songs and then they discussed what the story or message of that song was. The main song they talked about was "Christmas Shoes." She had them listen to it and asked them to figure out what the story was to the song.

"We had a really neat discussion in every class, third through fourth grade, about what the meaning of that song was," said Sister Julie. "One little boy said that the man standing at the counter in the store learned the lesson because he learned what Christmas really means. It means being giving and loving. It's neat to know that the kids get it. They hear the songs, and they get the message."

The story is about a little boy whose mother was dying at Christmas, and his quest to find the perfect pair of shoes for her to wear in heaven. In the story, a workaholic attorney crosses paths with the young boy on Christmas Eve and rediscovers the true meaning of love, life and the holiday season.

"The older guy in the song learned the lesson from the little boy," said Sister Julie to her students. "Isn't it neat how you can come across a total stranger who will just give of himself so willingly?"

Then over the PA, Michael Sweeney, the principal, made an announcement that a gentleman, who lives in Morningside, had made little nativity scenes, carved out of wood, for each of the students.

"He brought them to the students, and I was literally in awe," Sister Julie explained. "Mr. Sweeney got off the PA, and I looked at my kids. I said 'do you know what just happened? A stranger that we don't even know just came into our school to share a gift with us. The whole meaning of the song we talked about just happened here.'

"It was so cool, that is what I love. I love when these things then mean something and can be applied to daily life. It's not just some kind of superficial song that they are singing, that there really is a meaning to it."

She told the children that she "will not listen to the song the same again now knowing that they are the ones proclaiming the message to the larger community."

Sister Julie commented that music has a way of allowing people to express themselves in a way that normal speaking can't. The melody settles inside a person like when a person leaves the church humming a tune that they just sang during Mass. It has the ability to empower people and uplift people, she added.