Waukon Middle School and High School students take part in "Real Men Sing" ...

Mrs. Sarah J. Bieber Palmer and Waukon Middle School parent Gregg Jones took a group of students from Waukon Middle School and Waukon High School to the "Real Men Sing" festival hosted in October by Wartburg College in Waverly and directed by Dr. Lee Nelson. Real Men Sing is an event designed to jump start male students in a school's choral program early in the year. More than 500 male singers from around the Midwest joined in a day of singing and voice master classes. Two choirs make up the festival: one for changing voices focusing on students in grades seventh through freshmen/sophomores conducted by Luke Johnson, and one for changed voices focusing on grades freshmen/sophomores on up through adults conducted by Dr. Lee Nelson. The award-winning barbershop chorus Central Standard made a special guest appearance for the festival participants, and workshops dealing with the male voice, program development, recruitment and repertoire were provided for participating choral directors. The one-day festival ended with a finale concert at 5 p.m. in Neumann Auditorium on the Wartburg College campus.

Pictured above are those who attended the "Real Men Sing" festival from the Waukon schools. Left to right - Front row: Ethan Hooten, Sean Bieber, Stephan Nesseim, Cody Huinker, Jacob Homp, Ayden Blake, Ashton Gallagher. Middle row: Chase Boydston, Noah Schellsmidt, Ryan VanderVelden, Miciah Dotzler, Dalon Troendle, Sean Liddiard, Logan Kucera, Brennan Bednarski, Denzel Decker. Back row: James Rubendall, Aidan Jones, Gregg Jones, Michael Benson, Nathan Liddiard, Steven Shogren, Michael Smith, Lane Grotegut. Submitted photo.