Donnie visits Logan

He sang in English. Then in Japanese, then Dutch, then Spanish and finished it up with a little Russian. The students at Logan Elementary School ate it all up. By the time their session with Grammy-award-winning singer/songwriter Donnie McClurkin ended, the fifth-graders were lined up for hugs and handshakes. Then, as they exited the classroom, they made sure not to touch anything with the hands McClurkin had shaken.
It's great that he's here,'' one of them said.
McClurkin spent several hours at Logan on Tuesday working with the fifth-grade students and performing for the whole school. Terra Webster, interim principal at Logan, said bringing in McClurkin was an attempt to address students' questions about music.
"The fifth-graders are studying songwriting and instrumental music and began to ask questions about what can I do with this beyond school?'' she said. "The questions were getting much more sophisticated than we could answer.
"We said, 'What if we could bring in a musician to talk?' Mr. McClurkin and I attended the same church years ago, and we got in contact. He was going to be in the (area) this week and agreed to come. He's never done this with a school before.''
McClurkin is a gospel singer who released the double-platinum-selling "Live in London'' in 2000 and the gold-selling "Again'' in 2003. That record won a Grammy in 2003. His latest CD, "Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs,'' debuted in 2005 as No. 1 on the gospel charts and No. 5 on the R & B charts.
The sessions with the fifth-graders Tuesday focused on songwriting.
The students had written a blues song and sang it for him. Each student in the class had written different lyrics. The class voted on the lyrics and chose the top two to sing for McClurkin.

Tags: McClurkin, Gospel Chart, Latest Album, Logan Elementary Shool