The idea for the choir gift came to Dallas Remy, senior, by accident while talking to his friend. They were discussing a running joke in one of their classes about getting teachers increasingly bigger pictures of themselves. 

The joke then evolved into creating cardboard cutouts of themselves, and Remy realized that idea could be a great gift for one of his closest teachers: Jason Winter, choir teacher. 

“Just from that one throwaway line that he forgot about, I started planning and thinking about it, and looked it up to see if it’s possible,” Remy said. 

The gift ended up being a 6 ‘4 cardboard cutout of Winter, with a whiteboard speech bubble that his students are able to write different phrases on. 

When presenting Winter with the gift during the choir concert on May 17, the phrase “something punny” was written on the board, in reference to the numerous puns that Winter makes during his classes. 

The cutout also includes the nametag “Justin Summers”, referencing Winter’s “alter ego,” a running joke with his students. 

The idea was fully formed in December, with the cutout being created and ordered by April. To gain funds for the gift, Remy reached out to Lauren Marren, senior, as she is in chamber choir so she could discuss the idea and gain gift money from the other choirs. 

Remy formed a relationship with Winter after being in Bass Choir for all four years of high school. 

“It’s always a place I can go and feel safe, rant about whatever I need to and feel better about my day,” Remy said. “I know a couple people that talk about the only reason they come to school or get through the day is choir.”

Marren has been part of choir for four years and said she felt honored presenting Winter with the gift. 

“It was like a reward to be able to give him the gift,” Marren said. “I feel like I was able to give back to a teacher that gave back so much to me.” 

Winter said the gift was a total surprise and by far the most unique gift he has ever received from his students. 

“I know they put a lot of work into putting it together and organizing it,” Winter said. “So as much as it was meant to be a comedic piece, I also know that it was heartfelt and that they presented that gift because there was a lot of care.”

Winter said that he isn’t sure where he will keep the cutout next year, but will keep the gift in his room until the end of the school year, so his students and fellow staff can enjoy it.