By: Elise Misner

Grandville High School, most commonly known for our record breaking football team. Has a lot more to offer than just sports. We have an amazing variety of arts programs, including an absolutely incredible choir program. With five choirs of hard working students, and one teacher who does everything she can to make everyone’s full potential is reached. Last school year all five choirs got a one at festival and two of those choirs got a one at states, which is the best you can get. 

When talking to students from the choir program, Sophomore, Marshall Huberts comments that his favorite part of choir is the Men’s Ensemble because he always has fun with those pieces of music, all the men sound amazing together and the songs are “stupid but fun” Seniors Faith Ruger annd Shelby Pauwee, along with Sophmore Aaron Wheeler all state that their favorite part of choir is Revue Show, because it’s a fun way to express yourself. Senior Evan Winquest, Junior Genesis Loyd and Sophomore Sammy Dysard states that their favorite part is the people. In choir everyone is able to get to know each other and bond with each other. Sammy says she feels like choir is accepting to all types of people and that everyone works together. Genesis comments that it is a place where everyone is there to help you grow. 

Out of all the students interviewed, it was said that choir is like a family. Shelby Pauwe calls it a “dysfunctional family.” Marshall Huberts says that it brings people from different types of “cliques” together. Evan Winquest states that it is a place where you can be yourself the most. Sammy and Genesis both agree that choir is a safe place and that it brings people together. 

For those who do not know, Revue Show is the biggest choir performance of the year, it is about 2 hours full of singing and dancing, with months of preparation before. Students, parents and Mrs. Bridges work incredibly hard to make the show run smoothly. All students were telling me how fun the experience is and how much they all LOVE Revue Show. they all said that is can be really stressful but that in the end it is 100% worth it. Sammy and Genesis states that they think it strengthens relationships and creates new friendships 

For those who do not know, Revue Show is the biggest choir performance of the year, it is about 2 hours full of singing and dancing, with months of preparation before. Students, parents and Mrs. Bridges work incredibly hard to make the show run smoothly. All students were telling me how fun the experience is and how much they all LOVE Revue Show. they all said that is can be really stressful but that in the end it is 100% worth it. Sammy and Genesis states that they think it strengthens relationships and creates new friendships 

When asked to give advice to underclassmen, one of the main things stated was that Mrs.Bridges deserves respect. All of the students have a huge respect for Mrs.Bridges, they all believe she is doing a great job and that she deserves a lot of credit and respect. Marshall said that his advice is that Revue Show is worth all the stress that it can put on a student. Faith and Shelby both say that choir is worth it and to stick with it. Sammy states that eighth grade choir is way different from high school choir, the pieces are more difficult and you need motivation to stick with it. Sammy also says to push yourself and try new things. Genesis says not to let the people scare you. 

Choir is not a very well known or recognized program at GHS. when talking to the students, Marshall says that the recognition choir gets has gotten better, but people still do not know much about choir, Evan says that choir does have a lot of respect but could get more recognition. Faith and Shelby state that there’s barely any recognition for choir and that it is almost like a forgotten program. 

A lot of choir students think that things should change, students were saying that more things should get on announcements, advertise our concerts more. Marshall says that Choir kids need to be proud of what they are doing, especially Revue Show. some students are embarrassed to be dancing on stage and therefore don’t want people to come to the show, but everyone in choir needs to be confident in the things we are doing. 

Mrs. Bridges has been a choir director at the High School for 8 years now. She absolutely LOVES Revue Show, before she became a teacher she had a director who did something like Revue Show, so when she began teaching she wanting to adopt that into her class schedule each school year. She states that her proudest moment as a teacher her was when a student came to her and told her that the choir room was her safe/happy place. She says that she has always tried to make that kind of an atmosphere and hearing that was incredible for her. Mrs. Bridges states that choir is appreciated, but there’s a lot of programs at Grandville and sometimes Choir can become less known. Her favorite part of teaching choir is the students, she loves people and has a lot of fun working with the kids she especially loves having students for 4 years, she gets to see them grow both musically and as people.

Overall, choir is a huge part of a lot of students lives. It has become a family for a lot of students. People spend years singing and dancing and just creating friendships. Choir is a safe place for a lot of students and it is where the masks are able to come off, where we can truly be ourselves. Choir deserves a lot more recognition than it gets. The things that everyone in the program is doing is absolutely amazing, So, to the students of GHS, try coming to Revue show this school year and have fun with all these incredible students that put all their energy, sweat and tears into creating an amazing show.