Flagler-Palm Coast High School ninth-grader K’imani Gervin-McCoy has been selected to sing the National Anthem at the 2024 opening session of the Florida legislature on Tuesday, January 9th.
McCoy, who turned 15 on December 31st, is scheduled to sing at both the House and Joint Session at the invitation of Paul Renner, who is the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Representative for the 19th district, which includes Flagler County.
McCoy, her mother Tahlia, and Jeffrey Reeves, the district’s Director of Teaching and Learning, will travel to Tallahassee Tuesday morning where they will be welcomed by Renner and his staff at the state capitol. They also will tour the capitol and, following K’imani’s performances before the state’s top political leaders, will have lunch, before returning to Flagler County. Though K’imani will miss the first day of school following the winter break, she will be back in class on Wednesday.
Some in the Flagler Schools system already are familiar with K’imani’s musical gift. She has participated and won talent shows, including last year’s Youth Talent Show in May 2023 as an eighth-grader at Buddy Taylor Middle School.
Her voice has a maturity and distinctiveness beyond her years. Her mom reveals that K’imani has been singing ever since she was a toddler, and her dedication and love of singing has only grown over the years.
Though she has lived in Tennessee and Daytona Beach, K’imani has spent most of her life in Flagler County. She has three younger siblings at home who are also musical. K’imani’s mom, Tahlia, serves as her coach and, understandably, is quite proud of her daughter’s accomplishments.
In preparation for her big day at the state capitol, McCoy, accompanied by her mom and grandmother, stopped by the Flagler Auditorium Thursday, January 4th, to practice singing the National Anthem. She rehearsed with Amelia Fulmer, the Director of the Fitzgerald Performing Arts Center at Flagler Auditorium, who shared warm-up exercises and pointers on which notes of the venerable song to emphasize and how to pace herself.
To see a past performance of K’imani singing Whitney Houston’s “I Have Nothing,” go to:
https://youtu.be/5FCcTBVqZvc?si=iX1Iblz8DSJJkZuO
You can watch the Florida Channel on to see the state legislature’s opening session Tuesday beginning at 9:30 a.m., January 9th, at:
https://thefloridachannel.org/about-tfc/how-to-watch/.
If you have any questions, please let me know.
