After hearing the news of their win, the men of the Stockbridge high school choir were ecstatic; however, they knew more work was ahead. Up next: state competition.

“The choir is practicing its sight reading and the songs that they will be singing at the state competition. They are also practicing “The Star Spangled Banner” for coming home to be performed between the boys and girls basketball game,” said choir teacher Carol Hatch.

The boys are prepared and excited for their win.

“We are stoked for our win, and we are going to be practicing very
hard,” said junior choir student Brett Hamilton. After earning high scores at solo ensemble the students will be competing against other schools from around the state at Portage High School on the west side of Michigan.

It is only the second time that a team from Stockbridge has qualified for the state championship.

In order qualify for the state competition, teams must score at least 25 out of 30 points.

The boys choir received a score of 28 points with superior distinction. Teams with that ranking may only have 1 or 2 mistakes.

“It is on a very rare occasion that you will see that,” said Michigan Schools Vocal Music Association District Coordinator Matt Shell, the coordinator for the district.

“It is going to be a lot of fun because it is the first time someone from Stockbridge is having an ensemble go to states. It is also the first time I have attempted to go to states,” said junior Micah Rickerd, who is one of the choir members preparing for the championship on March 27.

The team attributes its high score at the competition to the ability to work well together.

“We’ve all worked really hard and learned to cover each other’s weaknesses, so the adversity we’ve had to overcome pays off,” said Hamilton. “Without any one of us, the score we got wouldn’t have been possible.”