Bishop Dunne Choir Sings Warmly to New ICE Head, Sarah Saldana, Wednesday
The Sounds of Bishop Dunne Gospel Choir sang Wednesday at the annual holiday party at the United States Attorney's Office in the Federal Building downtown.
Invited by Assistant U.S. Attorney for North Texas, T.J. Johnson, twelve of the 22 Choir members made the trip to 1100 Commerce Street, to sing to an audience of 100 federal judges, attorneys, clerks, and governmental officials in their high security headquarters. Ms. Johnson mentored the Bishop Dunne Mock Trial Team last spring, and the Choir was happy to sing for the gathering to thank her.
Ms. Johnson good-naturedly claimed that the Dean of Students and Choir Director Water Johnson was her cousin and begged him to sing for the audience. A professional singer before coming to work at Bishop Dunne full time, Mr. Johnson did an a capella rendition of "O, Come All Ye Faithful," to the delighted crowd.
After the Choir’s final song, it received a rousing two minute standing ovation from the audience – and a surprise.
Dallas prosecutor and U.S. Attorney for North Texas Sarah Saldaña - who just won confirmation Tuesday as President Obama’s new Head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the second largest federal law enforcement agency after the FBI – walked up onto the riser and thanked the students for coming to sing. She told her staff that she had been packing all day for her new position in the government, and also joked that she’d like to take 300-pound senior Darrion Daniels with her to D.C. for security. Daniels, a member of Bishop Dunne’s TAPPS State Championship Football team, has 33 college scholarship offers, and thanked Ms. Saldana for the opportunity but declined, admitting that a university diploma is next on his list following his high school graduation in May of 2015.
At Ms. Johnson’s invitation, the choir stopped on the 3rd floor so the students could see the U.S. Attorney's office, with its “Justice Department,” sign.
Before the group left the high security building the choir sang two more songs in the lobby, "Angels We Have Heard on High," and "Silent Night." Workers in offices up above the lobby came out onto their balconies to listen, and people coming into the building stopped to enjoy the accomplished musical voices. Even the guards at the security checkpoint were smiling and taking photos of the choir.
The Choir performed the following day for the entire Bishop Dunne student body, during the school’s annual end of the year Christmas prayer service.
For More information on the Bishop Dunne Music program see the school’s website: www.bdcs.org