Perfect Placement
Choir students are challenged once a year to test their skills in order to proceed in their singing careers
Fifth hour choir students, always hard working, look at sheet music while Mrs. Baird is away. Freshmen Dakota Lankford, Avah Pauk, and Jeslyn Bryan review papers even with a substitute; attesting to the choir work ethic.
This week is important for all freshman, sophomore, and junior members of choir. It is placement week and the nerves are kicking.
Students had winter break, as well as two to three days in class, to practice and learn a work chosen for them by Mrs. Baird. They are changing much of how placements are done, a lot on an app, including sight reading. Students spoke about how they are using google classroom and other apps to modernize placements.
They will find out their placements quickly, finding out as soon as this Thursday or Friday. Therefore, the worry does not last long.
“It’s worrisome because you’re not sure and you want to make sure you give your best. At the same time, you’re really nervous and super shaky, and you might not give your best effort. So that kind of makes it a lot more stressful,” sophomore Allison Bellerson said about giving her all.
According to Bellerson, placements are meant to show students the choir in which they fit best. Bellerson remarked at how Mrs. Baird says placements are about the Goldilocks fit: not too easy, not too hard. Mrs. Baird wants to push her students, but not to the breaking point.
Both Bellerson and sophomore Krystal Arias talked about the uniqueness of each member. They said that everyone changes their abilities in different ways and at different times.
“It also tells you if you improve from last year or you stayed the same or if you’ve done worse,” Arias said, speaking to the meaning of placements.
Arias and Bellerson agree that placements are about how much work is put into one’s choir success. Junior Allison Colby also believes this, saying not everyone puts in the same amount of work, although everyone works hard.
“I would definitely say they [placements] definitely encouraged me to stay on top of things and pay attention a lot more throughout the year and work harder. Because when you have a goal to make it into a certain level choir, you need to be paying attention to what Miss Baird is teaching you so that you can apply it to the placement music you can hopefully use all of that and score into the choir that you’re wanting to,” Colby said.
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