“Think of an A...”
Mr. Ho, known as one of the physics teachers on campus, is now taking command over the choir department. On the very first day, the class was, in a sense, pressuring, but rather awkward. As we jumped right into what choir would be performing easy songs, such as “Row Your Boat”, everyone was instantly regretting having chosen choir with the exception of advanced choir and the class clowns. The majority of the class was afraid to sing out loud, but Mr. Ho later went on to show the class through warmups to not be afraid.
A typical day starts with warmups for five minutes or so. We do a variety of warm-ups, ranging from vocals to loosening up our shoulders. He later introduced a warm-up called the “Lion Stretch”. When he first demonstrated this stretch, everyone was making a fool of him for how embarrassing he looked because it was as if he was constipated and then yawning as wide as possible. On the other hand Mr. Ho was dead serious, responding with “Go to any college choir class and you’re going to be doing that.” But to be so serious about a bewildering stretch easily tells you how passionate he is about the choir department. To top it off, he even has a music minor from University of Pennsylvania.
Mr. Ho always tells the class about what he did in college as a way to encourage us to not be afraid. He once told the class that his choir class had to learn an entire song in German the flight before, and perform the day after. There will be a couple times where the class complains about singing, but he would tell us that during college, all he would do is practice for the entire day with his group. He stresses about having a performance face, saying “If you make it look like it was on purpose they won’t know.”
Mr. Ho once said, “I saw two of my badminton kids singing without joy and a smile-my choir class will not be like that.” With a teacher that cares a great deal for choir and wants to have an impactful first impression would definitely reassure anyone in the class that taking it wasn’t a mistake.
A typical day starts with warmups for five minutes or so. We do a variety of warm-ups, ranging from vocals to loosening up our shoulders. He later introduced a warm-up called the “Lion Stretch”. When he first demonstrated this stretch, everyone was making a fool of him for how embarrassing he looked because it was as if he was constipated and then yawning as wide as possible. On the other hand Mr. Ho was dead serious, responding with “Go to any college choir class and you’re going to be doing that.” But to be so serious about a bewildering stretch easily tells you how passionate he is about the choir department. To top it off, he even has a music minor from University of Pennsylvania.
Mr. Ho always tells the class about what he did in college as a way to encourage us to not be afraid. He once told the class that his choir class had to learn an entire song in German the flight before, and perform the day after. There will be a couple times where the class complains about singing, but he would tell us that during college, all he would do is practice for the entire day with his group. He stresses about having a performance face, saying “If you make it look like it was on purpose they won’t know.”
Mr. Ho once said, “I saw two of my badminton kids singing without joy and a smile-my choir class will not be like that.” With a teacher that cares a great deal for choir and wants to have an impactful first impression would definitely reassure anyone in the class that taking it wasn’t a mistake.