The Show Choir Club here at Oliver Ames is an organization that is dedicated to encouraging students to join if they love dancing, singing, being competitive and overall just having a great time the whole year. They have practices on Monday and Thursday, and do a lot of competitions at other schools.
A lot goes into show choir because they always have to practice even when they are not in rehearsal because there is a lot of effort for this type of dancing and singing. TJ Clifford and Emma Lekke are the directors and supervisors for it and they take a lot of pride in what they do. They have had a huge passion for dancing and singing since they were in high school.
Emma loves dancing and being a director at Oliver Ames Panache because she loves to connect and make memories with all of the students that she has had in the past. She has wanted to become a teacher since she was younger.
“I was asked to become a show choir teacher back in 2022, right after the big budget cut hit, so I wanted to become a show choir teacher to give the students the same type of experience that I had.I thought it would be really sad to see kids not get the same experience that I got in my high school that made the experience so much better.” Emma said.
Joining show choir is a lot of commitment, but it is worth it in the end because you make so many new friends and new teachers and mentors along the way. This is a great experience because it is for the whole year and it could not have been a better decision. This is definitely a good way to make memories
“Most definitely when we won 2nd place last year. It was the first time Panache has placed in the top three since 2017, and it was so amazing to see all of the hard work from both TJ and I coming back and teaching and everything and like just being able to teach here again.” Emma said.
All of the students become close throughout the course of the year and Emma sees that. Emma has a lot of favorite memories with students that vary from different ranges.
“Just the camaraderie that I feel with you all, since I am a younger teacher, I’m only 25. It’s definitely, I feel like I am able to relate to you guys a lot more and you guys are able to talk to me about things. I like that you all use me as a confidant about the musical and other school related stuff.” Emma said
The Oliver Ames Panache has a lot of great winning ways as they always place really well in all of their competition shows. They travel to different parts of Massachusetts to compete against 4 or 5 other schools.
Overall Panache is for everyone and it’s a great way to make new friends and just create bonding skills. The directors are wonderful and just the mentors and friends you make along the way are unbeatable.
