Chorale works to win at state

The chorale recently competed at Germantown Presbyterian Church where they earned straight ones, or sweepstakes. They received the highest scores out of all the schools that performed.

“After warming up, we performed, and it was amazing,” senior Josh Harper said. “After that we went to sight reading, where we sang a little piece of music we were given.”

The chorale will be performing at the state choir festival April 28 at Kingsway Christian Church in Germantown. It should take about a week to receive their state rank. To reach all of the state without overcrowding one place, there will be three sites set up in different places in Tennessee on April 28-30.

“We are participating at the West Tennessee site,” choir director Paul Whited said. “There will be two other sites, one in Nashville on Thursday, and one in Knoxville on Friday.”

Also on the list of good news, Whited has been awarded the title of Mid-South Teacher of the Week two weeks in a row starting the week of April 11. He was excited to receive a proclamation from the mayor, and his students believe this accomplishment was well deserved.

“Mr. Whited is a great director,” sophomore Charlotte Cannon said. “He works us to our full potential.”

Another reason to celebrate is that junior Sterling Church and senior Louis Simpson were chosen out of 80 boys in the state to be in the All-State choir. They took a trip to Nashville April 15-17 and performed at War Memorial Coliseum. The boys were directed by Randle Stroope, a well noted composer and instructor.

The spring concert will take place in the auditorium May 7. All of the choir classes will be participating in this final show before the choir banquet coming up on May 14 to celebrate their hard work this year. The choir welcomes anyone who would like to attend and is taking donations in place of tickets to help with next year’s choir.

DECA wins big at state competition

The weekend of March 5, DECA traveled to Nashville to compete in the state competition.

In the district competition, students had to write a paper telling about a business and how they would improve it. All students who were chosen to continue to state had to make a poster board with the major points of their papers listed on it, and give a speech to elaborate on each point.

This year 15 DECA students will continue on to nationals, in Louisville, KY the week of March 24-28.

“That’s more than we’ve ever had go to nationals,” DECA sponsor Cathy Bishop said.

Bartlett came away with more winners than any other Shelby County School.

The 15 students who will be advancing to the national competition are:
Carrie Connor
Ashley Dillard
Caroline Dickey
Dylan Riner
Clay Hillyard
LaTrell Cunningham
Gene Nolan
Wardell Webber
Rachelle Crutchfield
Anthony McCants
Belel Kamara
Kristen Groniger
Leah Hollingsworth
and Caitlin Manley.

These Bartlett Panthers will be competing with 15,000 students from all across the country.

“They were so good, and so professional, I was so proud of them,” said Bishop.

The competition went well; however, the ride back did not.

While driving home from Nashville the bus that the students were traveling on broke down about 20 minutes into the drive. All students had to evacuate the bus and wait on the side of the road for a replacement to arrive.

Although the ride back may have been a little chaotic, Bishop is very proud of all of her students that made it to state, and those who are advancing to nationals.

Most Bartlett students and faculty are alive with Panther Pride for DECA’s wins at state.