The Westside Community School District is in the heart of Omaha and has an outstanding reputation. I promise to tell more about the District in another blog entry but this time I’m writing about one program, the High School Show Choirs. Westside High School can boast of 3 fantastic show choirs: Warrior Express, Simply Irresistible (all women), and ATSC – The Amazing Technicolor Show Choir (the Varsity Team).
We were lucky enough to travel recently to Chicago’s Wheaton/Warrenville Show Choir Competition and watched ATSC perform. If you have never attended a show choir competition you must plan to do so. The students demonstrate their skills before judges. Then the 6 best choirs are selected for an evening competition. Believe me it’s the best show in town. These students are incredibly talented and watching them sing, dance and play their instruments is as close to Broadway as some of us will ever get. Yes, they are that good.
It makes me thrilled to know this is a national phenomenon. My niece is in the program and I’m so impressed with her dedication and commitment to her school and ATSC. The physical demands of the dancing and rehearsals are impressive and the emotional charge each young man and woman gets will stay with them for a lifetime. For every talented student there are parents who give of their time, money and energy to provide the opportunities for their children. I must praise the exceptional staff of the Westside Music Department without whom any of this would be possible. The whole enterprise is a truly synergistic masterpiece. Congratulations Westside and ATSC!!
