NES Signing Choir to Perform at Hawks Game

The Norcross Elementary signing choir will be performing at tonight's Hawks game at Phillips Arena.

The choir of 21 third, fourth and fifth graders will open the the Atanta Hawks v. New Jersey Nets game during their pregame with two songs: "Man in the Mirror" by Michael Jackson and a spanish version of Ben E. King's "Stand by Me."

The kids will be performing on the middle of the court while the original songs are played on the arena's speaker system.

This will be the second time the choir has performed at a Hawks game, said signing coach Erica Porten, who is also a fourth grade teacher at the school. Last year, the choir performed when the Hawks played against the Philadephia 76ers.

"It was completely by accident,"said Porten. She explained that she had used a free voucher for a game last year, and when a Hawks representative called her to ask her how she liked it, she decided to propose the idea of a signing choir performance on the spot.

Porten said last year the school sold around 180 tickets to staff members, parents, students and members of the community, so she expects just as many or ever more people to come out for this year's performance.

"It's been great," said Porten. "We're going to have a fantastic turnout."

They were also invited to perform at the Gwinnett County annual counselors breakfast in February this year. The students signed along to "The Greatest Love of All" by Whitney Houston and "Don't Worry Be Happy" by Bobby McFerrin.

The Norcross Elementary signing choir will perform the basketball pregame around 7:15 p.m. Friday, March 23, at Philips Arena in Atlanta.