Borrowing from the old Coca-Cola jingle, Sue Passell would “love to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony.”

For now, she’s content to teach a group of Sandoval County children how to sing in perfect harmony.

Anyone tuned in to KUNM-FM last Saturday morning heard the Rio Grande Youth Chorale harmonize for nearly 60 minutes during the weekly “Children’s Hour” on the University of New Mexico radio station. Passell is the choir’s founder, which is based in Rio Rancho. The choir practices at Mid-High and falls under the auspices of the Rio Rancho Performing Arts Association.

There are actually two choirs, the Rio Grande Youth Singers for students in grades five and up and the Kokopelli Singers, directed by Debbie Fleming for singers in grades one to four.

“We got a lot of phone calls,” Passell said of the performance, which featured a duet, two solos, and cello accompanist Mitchell Mackiw. “I was very happy with it.”

“Happy” doesn’t describe the feeling Passell admitted she gets after hearing the kids sing, which she said mixes technique, blend and tone.

Despite its youth, the choir is used to good exposure.

The group has performed on “Good Morning America,” and at Coronado State Monument’s popular “Christmas at Kuaua.”

They sang at Rio Rancho’s 25th anniversary celebration, and sang the National Anthem at Isotopes Park for the 2006 baseball season.

“We don’t go for good n we go for goose bumps,” Passell said.

Passell’s full-time job is as director of human resources for Rio Rancho Public Schools, but she’s happy to tap the young resources of Sandoval County. Choir members hail from Rio Rancho, Placitas, Bernalillo, Santa Ana Pueblo and Corrales.

It’s a good thing she draws a salary from RRPS.

“I don’t get paid a cent to do this,” she said, proud of her efforts and as satisfied as she would be if she were to cash a check for the part-time gig. “It’s about kids.”

Pam Martin, whose 11-year-old daughter Lauren Hill, a Corrales Elementary student, said the choir is a great place for her daughter to express herself.

“She sings all the time,” Pam Martin said. “The fact that she gets to do her own thing n it’s a part that makes her feel real important. This is her ‘sport.’ She dreams of being a singer and thinks she was named for (pop singer) Lauren Hill.”

Passell grew up in Youngstown, Ohio, in what must be termed a musically inclined family. Her father was a professional bassoonist and the dean of music at Youngstown State, where she got her doctorate.

Her mother was a violinist, and her brother is a music education professor at Louisiana State University, as is his wife.

Of course, she has a sister, who is a dental hygienist. (Passell’s pretty sure it’s her sister despite an apparent lack of interest in the world of music.)

“I just enjoyed (music),” she said, with no special love for any genre, although she loves singing jazz standards. “I sang professionally for 15 years in southern Florida on cruise ships, on weekends, at private parties.”

At times, the horn section of the Miami Sound Machine backed Passell, who said she sang a lot of songs made famous by Whitney Houston, Gloria Estefan and Madonna.

Her first job in education was at Broward (Fla.) County Public Schools, where she was a music supervisor for 10 years and taught most grades in the kindergarten through grade 12 range.

When her husband needed to complete work on his doctorate at UNM, the family moved to New Mexico. Passell got a job as the Fine Arts Academy head at Rio Rancho High School, and then was an assistant principal in the Humanities Academy before moving to Lincoln Middle School as principal.

She succeeded long-time human resources director Glynes Foster, when Foster retired a few years ago.

Passell said she started her choir when she lived in Placitas and found “eight fourth-grade girls,” who wanted to sing. Her daughter, Julia, a student at Vista Grande Elementary, is in the group. More voices are always sought, she said, encouraging phone calls if interesting in auditioning for either group.