Glassboro High School recently crowned 11th-grader JaZahn Hicks as this year's Glassboro Idol and selected 10th-grader Katherine Amrhein as the runner up. Seven contestants competed for the title after 16 auditioned for spots in the competition. Other contestants included 12th-graders Cassie Ferrara and Marlena Richeal and 10th-graders Henry Ottenthal, Jybria Spann and Reney Waters. Senior Jacob Harrison hosted the event,...
Glassboro High School recently crowned 11th-grader JaZahn Hicks as this year's Glassboro Idol and selected 10th-grader Katherine Amrhein as the runner up. Seven contestants competed for the title after 16 auditioned for spots in the competition. Other contestants included 12th-graders Cassie Ferrara and Marlena Richeal and 10th-graders Henry Ottenthal, Jybria Spann and Reney Waters. Senior Jacob Harrison hosted the event, and the GHS Jazz Band, directed by Art Myers, played several pieces throughout the evening.
Hicks wowed judges and audience members with his renditions of "Stand by Me," "When You Believe," and "I Never Would Have Made It." Amrhein stood out, as well, performing "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," "It's Gonna Be Me" and "Wish You Were Here."
GHS teachers Maureen Morrison, Teresa White and Richard Wisniewski selected the seven contestants from auditions prior to this fall's show. Ryan Henderson, the school's television technology teacher, assisted with recording.
Judges for performance night included Alexis Browne, Julie-Ann Green and Bennett Hill. Browne won Glassboro High's first Glassboro Idol Competition, which was held on Dec. 15, 2005. Nowadays, she performs in musical theater and volunteers with GHS drama productions. Green, a Rowan University graduate who "double-majored" in vocal performance and music education, studied opera in Austria and Italy and currently teaches vocals at a N.J. performing arts school. Hill is a Rowan University elementary education major who performs in Rowan's Statesmen Men's Chorus and the musical group, Profecy A Cappella. (The spelling of Profecy is a nod to the Rowan Profs sports teams.)
Audience participation remains one of the most popular aspects of the annual Glassboro Idol competition. Judges make the preliminary round selections, but the audience selects the winner by text messaging during the final round.
Three of this year's Glassboro Idol competitors are in the Glassboro Fine and Performing Arts Academy and one is in the Glassboro STEM Academy. The academies, a partnership between Glassboro School District and Rowan University, enable students to take college classes at Rowan during their junior and senior years at GHS. The academies are open to Glassboro applicants as well as students throughout South Jersey via the N.J. School Choice program.
