I admit it, I am a "gleek". If you are a "gleek" too, you know what it means. If not, you do not watch Glee, a TV show about a high-school show choir and its mixed bag of members. The choir consists of a football jock, cheerleader, a diva, special-needs student, the overweight girl, bad-boy and homosexual who sing, dance and get picked on by the rest of the school. After all, being a member of show choir is not "cool". Or is it?
"Show choirs combine choral singing and synchronized dance routines" (Parade.com, 2010). They first became popular in the sixties and the first competition (think Glee Nationals) was held in 1974, at which time, only seven groups competed. Today, glee programs can be found at over 800 high schools all over the United States. This has been referred to as the Glee effect (Parade.com, 2010). Since this program debuted, show choirs have catapulted in popularity.
Take, for example, the high school show choir, Sound Check, from Waubonsie Valley High in Illinois. This last May, ten of the boys from the choir graduated and the director was worried those empty slots would not get filled. He had 36 guys try out for those empty slots. Interesting enough, these auditions were only weeks after Glee's second season began.
The 54 kids who comprise Sound Check feel connected to the group from Glee. They consider being part of the group a "safe haven and creative outlet" (Parade.com, 2010). They feel they can be themselves and not worry about being judged here. These kids enjoy the friendships as well as the music. Participating in the competitions, the singing, dancing and performing brings many of these kids out of their shells. It's cool to be in show choir, however, they also know their most important focus is education.
References
Gotta be Glee! (2010). Retrieved from http://www.parade.com/celebrity/2010/10/gotta-be-glee.html
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