CHAMPS Charter High School in Van Nuys celebrates winning national music award

VAN NUYS, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- CHAMPS Charter High School decided to put together a concert during lunch for their students to celebrate winning multiple music awards.

"It's kind of a celebration of what we've accomplished this year being the NAMM one of the chosen schools for music education and just coming off of a great trip," said Gabe Salazar, Music Instructor at CHAMPS.

That trip was to New York City's Carnegie Hall where the students performed after winning a music competition in San Diego.

Their performances in NYC included singing as a choir and some sang solo. The student that won number one soloist was CHAMP's very own Leila Johnson.

"I sang in front of the whole choir which was 488 kids. And...I was so nervous and at the end she called my name and it was absolutely amazing. I wasn't expecting it at all, and singing in Carnegie Hall was...oh my gosh...crazy," said Leila Johnson, high school junior at CHAMPS.

For many of the students, including Leila, this was their first time going to NYC, but it was a long time coming because they had to win multiple competitions in order to get there.

CHAMPS Charter was awarded the 2019 support Music Merit Award from the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) Foundation.

This award from NAMM recognizes the commitment and dedication to music and the arts as innovative learning opportunities.