Breakout season

Four years ago, Susan Denney took Patriot Edition to a single competition.

She wanted to give her students an idea of what the show choir competition circuit demanded. There were no expectations.

Last season, just making the finals was a great accomplishment.

This year, Jay County High School’s co-ed show choir burst from the background to become a contender for the top of the charts.

Patriot Edition, and its all-female counterpart Just Treble, closed out the best show choir competition season in school history at Saturday’s Bishop Luers Midwest Show Choir Invitational.

The former advanced to the finals, where it finished fourth, and earned the Fr. Fred Link Spirit Award. The latter came in fifth place.

“Last year we would sit for awards ceremonies and we would think, ‘We’re not going to get called,’” said Denney, who directs both groups. “Our goal last year was, wouldn’t it be great to make finals. And we did. We made finals twice last year.

“But the success of this season, it’s been so weird, because now it’s like, ‘We’re gonna make finals. How well can we do in finals?’” 

As recently as 2017, Patriot Edition walked away from each of its competitions with the same result — no placement. They broke through a year ago, taking third at the Sheridan Spotlight and sixth at the Garrett Railroader Rush Invitational.

But if 2018 was considered a breakthrough, this year was an explosion onto the high school show choir scene for the group.

Patriot Edition was the grand champion at its season-opening Bellmont Winter Spectacular on Jan. 12. Three weeks later at Carroll, the group was the grand champion again.

“Coming from being in here freshman year and just going for the experience, and then actually making it to finals and getting grand champions, it’s amazing,” said senior Storm Armstrong.

The group, which performs selections from songs including Coldplay’s “Lost,” Queen’s “The Show Must Go On,” Ariana Grande’s “Brand New You” and “Sincerely Me” from the Broadway musical “Dear Evan Hansen,” added a fifth-place finish at the loaded Mooresville Spotlighter Invitational on Feb. 23, also winning the Spirit Award.

And its fourth-place Saturday performance, for which Ali Harris was named its dynamic performer, came behind three-peat champion Grosse Pointe (Michigan), Walsh Jesuit (Ohio) and Bishop Dwenger.

Though there are typically not separate finals for the all-girl show choirs, Just Treble has made a similar jump this year.

After earning a second-place finish at Ben Davis in 2017, its best effort a year ago was sixth place. This year, it turned in a pair of third-place efforts — at Bellmont and Franklin Community ShowFest — for its show that includes “Good Girl” by Carrie Underwood, “What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger” by Kelly Clarkson and “Beautiful” by Christina Aguilera prior to a fourth-place finish Saturday, when Hannah Littler was honored as its dynamic performer.

“I’m so proud of them,” said Denney. “They have both surpassed what I expected them to be able to do. … It’s just been an awesome experience this year.”

The spirit award JCHS earned Saturday is named for the man who started the Bishop Luers competition 45 years ago. It is voted on by show workers — cafeteria, hosts, tech crew, etc. — and goes to the group that most exhibits the values like kindness, sportsmanship and generosity.

“Actually, that was more important to me than making finals,” said Denney. “I’ve talked to the kids as far as trying to understand that they’re ambassadors for Jay County. And they’re ambassadors for the chorale program, and for me as a teacher. And that small, little things matter — being kind to the hosts, being kind to the people that let you in the door and tell them you appreciate them. Because there’s a lot of work that goes into these, and we want people to know that we respect their efforts and we appreciate them. … 

“And then for someone to actually reward them for that, that was amazing.”

Both groups are accompanied by a live band, led by Denney on the keyboard. The rest of the ensemble features Jan Rittenhouse, Eric Reynolds, Jason Maitlen, Ethan Andreshak, Lee Habegger and Dan Muhlenkamp. And the shows are arranged and choreographed by Damon Brown, who also works with the Carroll and Zionsville groups.

While appreciative of them all, the choir members were quick with their answer as to why they have made such a quick climb to competition success.

It’s Denney.

“She teaches us not only stuff in the classroom, but everyday life things,” said senior Lillian Trinidad. “She helps us grow as people and performers.”