What an exciting weekend!  I can't even begin to tell you how happy I was for you and how proud I am of you.....and most of it has absolutely NOTHING to do with where you finished....

1) You were sooooo respectful.  I had countless parents and directors from other schools commenting about you all day.  They seldom talked about your performance on the stage, but rather they were impressed by your ACTIONS.  They were impressed with how respectful you were during announcements - you stood for everyone!  They were impressed with the way you were dressed.  They were impressed with how kind you were to the other groups and to the hosts/parents of Rock Bridge. They were impressed with your politeness....the list continues.

2) You handled the afternoon "1st place" so well.  I was so nervous because we have never seriously discussed what to do in that situation.  Most impressive was when they called Smith-Cotton second place, you didn't celebrate for yourselves.  You stood up and respectfully clapped for them and then SAT DOWN!  I was amazed.  Only when your name was called for 1st place did you stand up and scream.  The evening was a little different, but you still handled yourselves well.  I could feel how excited you were getting as Grand Champion got closer and closer.  Still, you handled yourselves well.....I appreciated that very much.  THAT to me is one of the most important things you can do as a group.

3) The Crew was missing 3 or 4 people and replaced them with Blue Vibes Crew.  I couldn't tell the difference.  The "old" crew taught the "new" what to do and it didn't feel like we lost a beat!  Way to go.

4) People helped load and unload.  We were NOT the last school to unload or the last to leave the building at the end of the night.  A group that functions and works together makes a director very happy.

5) YOU HAD FUN!  I have never seen our group have sooooo much fun.  I told you going in that I wanted you to give Columbia a taste of Davenport flavor.  You did it.  It was funny to watch people from other schools watch in awe and shock when you, in the afternoon, performed cheers, songs, etc.....More impressive was at the end of the night when other groups started joining in.  I LOVED the instruments playing our fight song in the gym at night.  Thank you for learning to be a fun group that understands when it is time to do it and when it is not appropriate. 

6) I think many of you were more excited for Blue Vibes than you were for CSI.  That shows great character on your parent.  Bravo.  I loved how we were announced Grand Champions, you took pictures with the trophies and then started cheering "Blue Vibrations!!!". 

7) The parent "convoy" that was at the school was priceless and took my breath away.  My wife started crying and I was swept away with emotion.  The weekend was so positive for so many reasons other than winning, and you provided another positive memory for yourselves and your children for years to come.

8) You haven't let this go to your heads.  Many of you today were already thinking about how we can improve for this coming weekend.  That is incredible!  We will shorten rehearsal tonight and get you home a little earlier, but we still have work to do.  Let's do it and get home!!!

9) The Band for both groups was amazing!!!  You brought home your second Best Band award.  Can you make it a third this weekend?  :-)

I am really looking forward to a great final week of practices and performances.  I am so proud of all of you.  You have worked hard to reach this goal.  Let's continue to strive to be better performers for the coming week.  Way to go CSI!!!

A special thank you to all of the parents for your assistance this weekend.  We could not have done it without you. 

A HUGE thank you to our band director, Kendall Carrier, for his assistance this weekend.  He was along to talk to the pit about articulation and tuning.  He was helpful in so many ways.  We are very lucky to have him at Central!  If you have not met him yet, please take the opportunity to meet him and thank him for his countless hours of assistance.

Thanks to all for a great weekend! 

Reese
reesem@davenportschools.org

Here are the scores from the day and the night:

DAYTIME (these are not listed by class....but rather by total finish - the top six schools (out of 18) from the day made finals)

1) Central Singers -    730 (first in the Large School Division - LSD)
2) Smith-Cotton -       715 (second in the LSD)
3) Nevada -             691 (first in the Small School Division - SSD)
4) Blue Vibes -                 666 (second in the SSD)
5) Carthage -           642 (third in the SSD)
6) Smith- Cotton Women - 638 (first in the Women's Division)

FINALS RESULTS

1) Central Singers -    470
2) Smith Cotton -       441
3) Nevada -             411
4) Blue Vibes -                 382
5) Smith Cotton Women 341
6) Carthage -           326

CSI also won Best Vocals and Best Choreography (we had more points in these categories than other groups)
Best Female Soloist - Gina Jarrell
Best Male Soloist - Brendan Iglehart
Best Band (Blue Vibes) 

BV Members and Families-
WOW!  What a weekend!  Even as I sit here writing this email, the excitement has not worn off at all!  There were so many different things that made this competition so amazing one, and I'd like to share just a few of those things with you.

First of all, everyone was on time- 3:30 AM- to load the trailer to compensate for the fact that we didn't have school on Friday.  That made a world of difference.  It was a great ride down to Missouri with clear roads and no intense conditions at all!  Upon arrival, everyone was ready and raring to go for a great day round performance!  Many of the things we worked on in rehearsal that week again came to life on the stage!  The ballad was THE BEST it had ever been, and I got choked up, as well as many audience members who went wild after it concluded!

After being great audience members for CSI's INCREDIBLE performance, we went to the gym for the announcements.  It was a blast to see the CHS students share their enthusiasm and energy with all of the other schools through all of their fun cheers and songs.  I heard a student from another school say "We don't cheer until we know we've made finals," and this just showed me once again that we are all about the experience, not the end result.  Our students were cheering because they were so pumped from knowing they had great day daytime performances- their cheers of joy were not dependent on the results or the scores!  Another very proud moment for me was to see our students stand and applaud each and every school that was named in the awards ceremony.  I noticed that ALL of the schools learned that from us and did the same when awards were announced after finals!  What a fine example the CHS students set for everyone else there!

Oh, and I almost forgot- Blue Vibes MADE FINALS!  It was such an amazing feeling to be able to stand in front of BV during our warm-up for our finals performance and tell them that they had made history!  BV has never made finals in its existence, and here we were!  It was a well deserved reward for all of the hard work and improvement they have shown this year.  They ended the day in 4th place and maintained that 4th place title after performing TWO SHOWS in one day.  Not only did they make finals, but they had an even stronger, cleaner, more high-energy night performance during finals!  Everyone was ON- including the pit, who took their 2nd caption award for Best Combo!  After our finals performance, I heard so many kids saying that they had SO MUCH FUN performing- that's what I love to hear.  They truly were on cloud-nine even before knowing the results of the night.  The personal pride and satisfaction that they take away from working as hard as they can and having a great show are inspiring to me!

For me though, even better than making finals and placing well along with the Grand Champs, CSI, was the fact that Mr. Reese and I received so many compliments from other parents and volunteers at the competition for our students' kind and courteous behavior throughout the entire day.  Acting with dignity and respect are far more important than how we place when the scores are tallied!  One of the pit members mentioned that what he likes about being part of show choir is that our groups have so much class!  And for that to be portrayed in a group of 100 high school students is a rare thing!  Being able to sing, dance, and play as well as our kids do, in front of huge audiences and panels of judges is no small feat either.  Add all of that up, and we really do have a lot to be proud of!

A HUGE thanks to our parents who went on the trip- they acted not only as fans but as chaperones for our overnight hotel stay.  They endured long-hours of monitoring the homeroom, curling hair, helping students with many small details, and cheering us on!  The parents are such a huge part of what we do on these weekend excursions, and there are no words to convey my gratitude for that.  And to the parents who gathered in the parking lot to celebrate with us upon our arrival- THANK YOU!  That is a memory that I will cherish forever.  What a great feeling of love a support for the directors and the students who work so hard!  That's what show choir really is all about!  Making finals was great, but what will always stick out in my mind from this weekend was the fun that was had and the spirit of community that was all centered around the positive musical experience we all had TOGETHER.

Most heartfelt thanks and love from your proud director-
Miss Wall
walle@davenportschools.org