Sarah Gale/Jefferson Jimplecute
Ready to end the semester on a positive note?
The bell choir of Jefferson Christian Academy did just that at RingFest 2021 in Toledo, Ohio. The festival hosted thirteen bell choirs from different Adventist academies across the nation, including JCA for the past several years.
The students flew out to what they described as being a very cold Toledo on Wednesday, October 27 for registration. The next two days were spent with the other school’s bell choirs getting in sync. These rehearsals had long hours, lasting from eight in the morning till seven at night. While the majority of the choir agreed the practicing could be tiring at times, it was ultimately worth it and even fun at times.
“It was kind of exhausting, but I didn’t give up,” said Whitney Ogwoka about the process behind learning the music.
That was all in preparation for the mass concert on Friday night, which featured hundreds of bells. The event was open to the public and live-streamed on different social media platforms so everyone could enjoy the music.
When asked about their favorite parts of the festival, popular answers included meeting people from other schools and showing off their hard work in the final performance. Underclassmen are already looking forward to returning to RingFest next year. Meanwhile, senior Charity Keleti states that the most important thing she would take away from the experience was ” to never take your eyes off the director.”