Goshen High School students place at singing competition

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by Eliana Spitler

  On November 3rd, private vocal teacher Rebecca Dengler-Kauffman took a group of Goshen High School students to the state National Association of Teachers of Singing competition. From that group, April Pollock and Danielle Horn placed.

  “NATS is a competition for people who take voice lessons,” said Pollock, a senior at GHS. “They can either go in the classical or musical theater division. I went in the musical theater division. You sing three songs and then they judge you!”

  Pollock placed first in the musical theater category.

  “When I talked to Rebecca about it, she said she was glad I won because I have a very low self esteem,” said Pollock. “And I, honestly, don’t think I’m very good. We discussed that and she said that she thought it was really good for me to win because, even though it sounds kind of horrible saying it, winning really does boost your self esteem and make you feel better about yourself. It was really different and really cool to have a little bit of reassurance that what I’m doing is good.”

  Horn, another GHS senior, placed second in the classical music category.

  “The best part was how inviting everybody was,” said Horn. “I thought that the environment that we sang in was very casual and a lot of people came to see me sing, which wasn’t something I was expecting, that there were complete strangers that wanted to hear me. That was very inviting and me feel better.”

  While Pollock and Horn aren’t progressing to the regional competition, placing still opened a world of possibilities for them.

  “I’m under the direction of Rebecca Dengler-Kauffman and she only does the district level, which means that we go to the [competition] in Indiana and then we don’t go farther than that,” said Horn. “If you place first, second or third, you have a money reward. First place, you get to sing a song of your choosing at the awards banquet if you’d like. Then, if your lessons teacher wants to go up, you can go to the regional, then the national competition, then that could also lead to scholarships.”

  Pollock and Horn were the first GHS students to place in a while, but they are far from the first to place. In the past, Susan Long, an art teacher; Jenny Sophia, a Broadway in Chicago actress; Rebecca Dengler-Kauffman; and many more have placed in years past!

Author

lshetler

GHS English Teacher

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