Stick Time: What’s the Secret?

Throughout most of the year, twelve hours a day, five days a week, there is a choir of high school students rehearsing somewhere in the U.S.

 

Those ensembles are full of fresh-faced young men and women who are beset by all of the same issues, stressors, and negative influences that cause some of their peers to behave abominably.  The kids in the choir, however, have made a conscious choice to involve themselves in a positive activity.  Multiple studies link active involvement in ensemble music-making with higher grades, lower truancy, and overall better behavior.

 

To top it all off, high school age singers are capable of achieving incredible artistry.  Take for instance this performance from an ACDA national conference.

 

Pound-for-pound the singers in this choir are no more talented than those in any other choir.  Their conductor had no magic formula that landed them on the stage at a national conference.  They simply worked hard.  But more than that, the students overcame some of the more daunting challenges of being a teen in the 21st century.

 

This choir did it.  So can yours.  Set your expectations high.  Give the best of yourself, and expect nothing less than their best, every day without fail.  You’ll notice a difference in no time at all, and your students will be off as a result.

 

By the way, ACDA is currently accepting performance applications for the 2015 national conference in Salt Lake City.  LEARN MORE and then APPLY.