At Alma’s Performing Arts Center in March, the Advance Choirs entered the stage shaking, sweating, and shocked about how the Choral Performance Assessment (CPA) contest might turn out. The boys and girls’ advanced choirs had prepared for months in class and after school. According to Sponsor Mr. Morris, the purpose of CPA is so that schools can assess their progress as a choir.

“My favorite song to sing was ‘Going Up’ because it had a lot of challenging parts,” Zaria Thomas, 9th said. “The thing I liked best was seeing other choirs sing because I wanted to see how good they are.”

Other than competition, many just simply enjoyed performing in public.

“I liked that we got to sing and have fun because you can’t just sing music and not have fun,” Prescott Inthavoug, 9th, said.

For some, confidence was not a problem.

“I liked getting to sing in front of everyone because I like being in front of people,” Kaleb Josenberger, 8th, said.

After their performance, students felt relief.

“What I liked most about CPA was when we finished, it took a great amount of weight off my chest,” Francisco Zea, 9th, said.

Despite of the tension of competition, the students still supported their opponents.

“We all encouraged each other,” Lacy Collige, 9th, said.

Seeing other choirs perform before them set a good example.

“I liked getting to hear all the other choirs because it helped me see how to act on stage,” Ashlee Turner, 9th, said.

Students were also happy to hear the progress they have made.

“I liked listing to our choirs sing because it’s great to see how far we`ve progressed,” Angel Kaohachksa, 8th, said.

Some students’ favorite songs were those that gave them a spark throughout their bodies.

“My favorite songs to sing were ‘Irish Ballad’ and ‘Amovolovolo’ because I liked the energy of both and how the Irish Ballad tells a story,” Nayeli Araujo, 9th, said.

Others preferred softer music.

“I liked ‘Shenandooh’ because it was really smooth sounding and it had a nice flow,” Angel Kednacksa, 8th, said.

Just like when learning to speak a new language is funny, it is twice the fun when singing in it.

“My favorite song was ‘Viva Tutti’ because it was fun and exciting to sing a song in a foreign language,” Prescott said.

According to Mr. Morris, all of the students earned Division I ratings in sight reading.

“We also received many compliments on the students behavior throughout the event,” Mr. Morris said.