For the past few years, one of the main issues that high school fine arts programs face is recruiting new members.This is because most kids in middle school only take band or chorus for a couple of years, and then choose not to continue doing it through high school. However, the Lambert Chorus program has come up with a solution to get these rising freshmen interested in continuing their music journey.
Ryan Wason, the chorus director of Lambert, has partnered with Maxwell Marshall of South Forsyth Middle School and Rebbeca Ray of Riverwatch Middle School to combine all three choirs to sing the National Anthem on a night they call Eighth Grade Night.
This tradition was started by the Lambert Band program sometime before 2015, but Mr. Wason decided to take it to the next level by incorporating the choir program. This night is all about the eighth graders. The students have the opportunity to grab food and meet with their future ensemble members and directors. They get to engage with members of different ensembles before they ultimately join together in performing the National Anthem at the annual football game.
“One of the biggest things that our students and our families from middle school to high school want is an experience to get to know some of the students and some of the directors,” Wason said.
Since the start of this tradition, Lambert’s Chorus program has seen a significant increase in participation. Senior Madeline Hansen is a fine arts veteran and a former alumni from South Middle. She still looks back on Eighth Grade Night very fondly. Even though she wasn’t able to participate in her eighth grade year, she still felt impacted in preceding and succeeding years.
“I remember being in sixth grade and hearing about Eighth Grade Night all the time, and I wanted to go so badly,” Hansen recalled. “I remember I couldn’t make it that night, but I only heard the greatest things from all of my friends who went.”
Ever since she joined Lambert, Hansen has made it her duty to be a mentor to the incoming middle schoolers, making up for the time she had lost in her own eighth grade year.
And it’s not just her who has felt impacted by this night. Mr. Wason says that he has had several students come up to him and say that the reason why they joined the program was because of the fun time that they had at Eighth Grade Night. The fond memories that these rising freshmen will make are sure to last a lifetime.
“I just love seeing so many of the students come through,” Wason said. “My favorite year that we’ve done it, we had our elementary kids partner up with our high school kids, and so it became a really significant event.”
In fact, the year that the elementary kids joined was such a success that it prompted Wason to create another event including them, this time singing at a basketball game. This event, along with Eighth Grade Night, is such a hit with the younger students that they look forward to coming back again and again each year, even when they’re well into their high school years.
“I love being able to connect with the middle schoolers, because it just gets them excited about everything,” Hansen said. “I love singing with them; it’s really fun. I can see the potential that they have. And when they go to high school, I know how incredible they’re going to be.”
Eighth Grade Night is coming up this Friday, September 12th, during Lambert’s home game against West Forsyth High School. Lambert Chorus members are highly anticipating meeting their future ensemble members. This night is surely shaping up to be night to remember for both middle schoolers and high schoolers alike.
