Checotah - Wednesday night, country star and Checotah native Carrie Underwood will host the Country Music Awards on NewsChannel 8. Despite her success, she hasn't forgotten about her roots here in Oklahoma.

This year, she helped donate new band equipment to her hometown high school.

Carrie is a very busy person right now. Her third album came out last week. It's first single, "Cowboy Casanova" is the fastest climbing song on country radio. Business aside, Carrie is giving back.

Thirty one new instruments were donated by the superstar to Checotah's music department.

"Curtains opened and their reaction, I saw jaws dropping. It was amazing," says Checotah Band Director Jimmy Lee Davis.

Davis first heard about Carrie's donation back in April. He got a call from her attorney regarding the band's need for equipment.

"And he said 'well you need to really make up a list'," Davis says. "So, I looked at the program and what we had and what we didn't have and I made up a pretty good size list for that."

And, Carrie came through. When Senior Kyla Davis found out she'd be playing one of the new instruments?

"It was amazing," she says. "There's like, no words that I can say to describe how I felt."

Also at a loss for words was sophomore Alexander Rogers, who has played a used saxophone for six years.

"The keys on these are amazing. Just so easy," he says.

The music department plans to use the instruments until the year 2050.

"A contribution like this, you want to be respectful to what's given to you," Davis says.

Carrie made a big impact on Checotah's band, and on fifth grader Kenedee Rittenhouse.

"She's a new girl that just moved into school," says Ethan Essex. "And, she gets to go on stage with Carrie Underwood. She's just a lucky girl."

Before the assembly started, Kenedee's teacher told her to stand up and sing for her classmates. Carrie heard her from backstage and later invited her up for a duet.

"I was just surprised that she was there," Kenedee said. "That she heard me. And it really was a dream come true for me."

Kenedee says she wants to follow in her idol's footsteps. So, we asked Carrie for her advice.

"First, just keep doing what she's doing," said Carrie. "She's obviously a very confident little girl who just loves what she does. Loves to sing."

You can catch more of Carrie Underwood Wednesday night at 7 p.m. when she and Brad Paisley co-host the Country Music Association Awards show on ABC.

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