JCHS choir advances to regional competition

Other Jefferson City students win various awards

Conductor Jarrod Hendricks, left, leads the Jefferson City High School Tonal Choir in rehearsal Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2017, as the choir prepares for the ICHSA Midwest semifinal competition.
Conductor Jarrod Hendricks, left, leads the Jefferson City High School Tonal Choir in rehearsal Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2017, as the choir prepares for the ICHSA Midwest semifinal competition.

Among a recent string of Jefferson City Public Schools District students' successes at competitions, the members of Jefferson City High School's choir group Tonal Uproar just might have the best chance of having their names up in lights on Broadway in New York City, or near Broadway at least.

Tonal Uproar finished second at the International Championship of High School A Cappella's (ICHSA) Midwest Quarterfinal No. 3 on Feb. 17 at Washington University in St. Louis. Members Taylor Horn and Haylee Backues received special awards for Outstanding Choreography for their performance of "River."

The second-place finish for the group was enough to earn them a spot in the ICHSA Midwest Semifinal on Friday at the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University in Chicago.

It's quite an accomplishment for a group only in its first year.

"We were a small fish in a big pond, not really knowing we were going to have a chance," said Stacey Backues, Haylee's father.

Tonal Uproar's competition in Chicago will be groups from schools in Skokie and DeKalb, Illinois; South Milwaukee and Galesville, Wisconsin; Overland Park, Kansas; and Warrenton's Pitch the Keys, the group that finished in first place at Quarterfinals in St. Louis ahead of Tonal Uproar.

If the group finishes first on the stage at the Auditorium, they will advance to ICHSA Finals in New York City on April 21 at the Town Hall - just a few blocks from Times Square in Manhattan, in the heart of the city's theater district. Ten high schools from across North America will compete at that event.

Tonal Uproar performs contemporary music that includes pop, rock, jazz, hip-hop, R&B, dubstep and other genres, according to its webpage.

Husband and wife duo Jarrod and Shawna Hendricks lead Tonal Uproar. Jarrod teaches vocal music at JCHS, and Shawna does the same at Simonsen 9th Grade Center.

"It was never our intention to be this big this early," Shawna said.

Jarrod said that's a "testament of the kids' work ethic." Tonal Uproar has 22 student members.

He said in St. Louis, the students performed "Summer Nights" by John Legend and Tisto, their own slower ballad version of "A Sky Full of Stars" by Coldplay, and "River" by Bishop Briggs. They're currently working on a rendition of "Believer" by Imagine Dragons.

Shawna added they will probably have auditions for next year at the end of April, and Jarrod said the group plans to perform more locally next year, too.

As for their upcoming competition, they are hurriedly fundraising to pay for buses to Chicago. Jarrod said students are selling cookies after school, have a GoFundMe set up online and are asking for personal donations. Shawna added corporate sponsors have been contacted as well.

JCPS students have had some other notable competition successes as of late.

On Feb. 17 at the District 2 Leadership Conference at Westminster College in Fulton, JCHS FBLA member Nathan Erickson, a junior, placed first in all three of his events. Senior Stephanie Grant's score from her events puts her at third in the state.

Grant went to FBLA nationals last year.

JCHS's FBLA team members collectively took home 15 first-place awards, six second-place awards and 11 third-place awards at districts this year.

First-place winners included Emily Hoerchler in Digital Video Production and Marketing Team; Ashley Ann Davis in Sports and Entertainment Management Team; Bailey Patrick for Healthcare Administration; Emily Rackers for Marketing Team; Brooke Reinsch in Sales Presentation; Esuga Yacim for Managment Decision Making Team; Trey Padberg for Sports and Entertainment Management Team and Management Decision Making Team; and Allen Tiethoff for Help Desk.

Seventeen JCPS FBLA students went to districts, and all of them walked on stage for awards. It was the best showing of the FBLA chapter. State FBLA is April 2-4 in Springfield.

At SkillsUSA's district competition at State Fair Community College on Feb. 17, 53 students from Nichols Career Center earned a medal, and 51 of them are headed to the state competition April 6-8 at State Technical College in Linn. This was the best showing for Nichols at a SkillsUSA district competition; Nichols took home 56 percent of all the medals available at the competition. This means Nichols will be sending the largest group of SkillsUSA students to state in the history of the career center, NCC director Sharon Longan said.

Lewis and Clark Middle School student Sudhi Kumar got first place Feb. 11 at the MathCounts competition at Immaculate Conception School. Kumar will advance to the state contest for MathCounts, which will be March 4 at the Butler Carlton Building on the campus of Missouri Science & Technology in Rolla.