“Music should be your escape” said Missy Elliott, a famous singer. Music is definitely a form of stress relief and a way to escape the pressures of school and life.

Some people join choir for this reason, but this is not a new development. By itself, it can’t explain the unusual increase of freshmen involved in choir this year.

According to choir director Mrs. Hester, this year has the highest freshmen enrollment that she has seen in her 12 years at C-G. There are 76 freshmen enrolled in first hour Beginning Mixed Choir and 98 in fourth hour Beginning Mixed Choir. This totals 174 freshmen enrolled in choir. The average enrollment in past years is around 140 freshmen with about 70 students in each period.

There could be a few reasons for this increase. One factor that affected this is the amazing quality of the music program at our school. At Cary-Grove, from band to choir to musicals, the music department is definitely a family that support and encourage each other to improve themselves and reach their goals.

Freshman Tatum Christy decided to join choir because she heard it was a lot of fun. She believed it would be a good way to get into the performing arts department at our school and to spend time with her friends.

Freshman Erin McDonnell was told that is was a lot more fun than study hall and she would regret if she didn’t get involved. She had also heard that the choir teachers always made class fun.

The musicals, such as Cinderella last year, always receive lots of attention in the community. Cinderella won Best Production in Illinois from the the prestigious Broadway In Chicago’s Illinois High School Music Theater Awards.

This recognition traveled around the community and freshmen might have wanted to be a part of such a creative and fun program that makes you feel like you’re a part of something bigger than yourself.

Another reason could be a reintroduction of music education into District 26. A majority of the students who attend Cary-Grove come from this district. A couple of years ago, music and art education were removed due to budget cuts.

Current juniors missed art and music education from fourth to seventh grade. Music education was recently brought back and having this formal education could show students that music is something they want to be a part of. All students get to be exposed to this vital part of education.

Our brand-new state-of-the-art auditorium could also be a contributing factor. It was completed last year and has since drawn attention in the community. Incoming freshmen could have seen a C-G production in it and been drawn into the program.

Whatever the reason these freshmen decided to join choir, we are happy to welcome them to the amazing family that is the C-G music program!