A Cappella is a choir group of people that sing songs. We have one here in RHS. The A Cappella class is a small class on the third floor of the RHS main building. Mr. Jerry Lim has been leading the A Cappella class for four years.
Through the lead of Mr. Lim, the A Cappella plays a present role within the school events. The class attended the Veteran Day Assembly, where they performed “What a Wonderful World,†written by Louis Armstrong. They have also been known to appear during the seasonal concerts, such as the Fall concert held at the end of each trimester.
What do they do? How do they seem to prepare for performances? One technique seems to be prior knowledge. According to Francisco Hernadez, the president of the A Cappella choir, “Some of the songs are already pre-sung, we sang them around like… last yearâ€. The other technique involves their daily schedule within the class.
Before this daily schedule begins, the class must first split up into different groups. Theses groups are split by the pitch that each individual is able to sing in. From the highest pitch to lowest pitch, these four groups can be split into sopranos 1, sopranos 2, altos, baritones and tenors.
With these categories sorted, the class can begin developing their daily routine. In this routine, the group begins with warming up. The practices are simple, but they force the singers to match the notes that the lyrics require.

After warm-ups, the group goes straight to singing songs that they will perform. When observing the class, an Arrow reporter heard a variety of different songs. These songs differentiating in both tone and language. The songs sung include “Let It Snowâ€, “Hallelujah†and “Al Shlosha D’Varimâ€.
This practice can vary in two ways. The group will sometimes practice singing together. According to Francisco, the group will occasionally break up into their categories and practice their specific sections of their song separately.
Toward the end of the next bell, the class takes a small break before the students must leave for their other classes.
This practice is essential for the group, since they are about to attend on an important trip. On December 18, the classroom were handing in permission slips to attend the field trip to a senior living center. They will be performing their various songs to elderly. When asked about how he felt before the performance, Francisco said, “Excited and nervous, we’ve been working very hard and I’m very excited to get to perform and see everyone else perform in the group…â€.
It can be seen that the practice lead to results. The trophies on the right show their achievement within their last two years. Two of the trophies being from 2019 and trophy number three being from 2018. They were all won when the group was participating within the competition that was held by the Music in the Parks festival .
Despite the shortness of schedule’s description, practicing takes a serious amount of time in order to complete. When asked why he joined and participated in this daily life, Francisco said “…I joined because I was a very shy kid and choir really helped get out there, become more involved with the school…â€.
That’s not the only benefit. After the group performed at the senior living center, the group went to Wendy’s. Their food on that day would be very different than the food for the other students.