On April 19-20, BVH Vocal Music Department (VMD) hosted a junior show choir camp, called Show Choir Rocks. This event has not been held since 2016 and was brought back this year. VMD invited students from grades second to eighth to be taught short singing and dancing performances. The camp allows students to explore their interest in show choir.
The students were divided into groups from second to fourth grade, fifth to sixth grade, and seventh to eighth grade. The event was held in three locations at BVH, including Bolles Theater where they focused on singing, the dance room focused on choreography and the gymnasium where they worked together as a group on their song and dance routine.
“It was just to provide a change in scenery. We’re working with kids, they don’t have super large attention spans. We couldn’t keep everyone in the same room and we didn’t want to give anyone an advantage or a disadvantage over where they got to practice. So it provided a good opportunity to change spaces and practice different things,” Sound Unlimited member and junior V Arancibia said.
The students also had a chance to view a preview of what being in high school would be like by allowing them to tour the campus. Bringing back this event after eight years allows these positive aspects to return.
“It was fun to get to see a preview of high school but also to make some cool high school friends. It also shows them what you can do in high school [and] the variety of things you can do. You don’t just have to be in sports. You can do something like this and it’s so fun,” Dance Captain, Soprano Section Leader of Music Machine and junior Lily Hobson said.
Hobson explains the importance of fostering a mindset that enables opportunities for young people to explore different activities. VMD director Michael Atwood adds that the event is beneficial for the younger students, and explains how it was an opportunity for them to have fun.
“I think [one of the benefits] was having fun. Playing little games, and having a chance to be with people who they may not know, but may share similar interests and hobbies with. They can come here and see that there is a future for singing and dancing, and it’s something to look forward to,” Atwood said.
Atwood decided to bring back this event after seeing pictures years ago of the Junior Show Choir camp and saw a trend of those who participated in the camp, later joining VMD in high school. However, there were a few complications with continuing the camp this year.
“COVID-19 was a big reason why the event was discontinued. Another reason was scheduling and the amount of students that signed up. It’s difficult to hold this camp with only 15 people, it’s not as fun. I felt really passionate about holding these elementary schools, it’s good visibility for our school and our community,” Atwood said.
This event is an opportunity for recruitment of students into VMD, as it has been their main goal to rebuild their program to pre-COVID years. Arancibia explains how they have tried to reach out to elementary school students to increase their likelihood of recruitment.
“We got a lot of our [students] from doing elementary school performances. During the entire year, we’ll go and do community performances at these different schools during the school day and the kids get a chance to see us and they think ‘Oh my gosh, that looks like so much fun.’ I think if we continue to reach out to more people in the community, then I think that [Junior Show Choir] will definitely continue to happen,” Arancibia said.
There were numerous benefits for the VMD students who helped organize the program. They were able to demonstrate their leadership skills, as well as a time to have fun as their competition season came to an end. The VMD performed a portion of their competition sets for the children and their parents.
“I think this event should continue to happen because it’s fun. It’s a cool weekend where you just get to bond with the youth. It’s a part of the school community. All these kids looking at you like you’re a celebrity. They might not be here now and they may not be coming in tenfold, but they’re here,” Hobson said.
At the end of the event, the students and VMD performed small songs they had learned. It is an opportunity for their parents to see their progress and see their children perform in something they are passionate about.
“We spent months getting ready for competitions. We spent months practicing it over and over again. This was an opportunity to do a whole new song and a new event. I see that singing and dancing is alive, and people love doing it,” Atwood said.
