Ellie Parks by Seth Watson

Choir is way more than just a girly elective, and more than just altos and sopranos. Behind that curtain of prejudice, lies a treasure beyond a definite value –  a supportive community. 

As long as you try your hardest and respect others, you’ve got a home away from home. Just take it straight from the Fredericksburg High School director, Ellen Parks.

Parks took the reins from Mrs. Stehling in 2020. Since then, she has endeared herself to all of the students in the program. Many of the students think she is supportive, loving, and she leaves no one behind. She also has her own quirks that bring so much more spark to choir.

As for now, let’s rewind the story back to the beginning.

“I was definitely one of those people that said, ‘choir is for nerds’; back in middle school,” Parks said. Back then she was in the same boat as everyone else, under the impression that choir wasn’t worth her time. 

“My mom really wanted me to be in choir because she knew I was a really good singer, so I told her, ‘Fine, I‘ll join Musical Theater,’” Parks said. “I landed the starring role in Grease – Sandy.”

 “The middle school choir director was there, and he pulled me aside afterwards and asked, ‘Why aren’t you in choir?’” So the next year, she joined choir as a freshman.

Turns out, Parks had a blast in choir. “My favorite choir director, Joey Lowrance, was my favorite because he was funny, energetic, and he just loved singing. He was so passionate about getting us all invested in the music and in choir.” 

According to her, Mr. Lowrance had the energy and the passion to keep kids going. 

But not every fun time can last forever… 

“My least favorite choir director came after. He was an amazing music educator. However, It wasn’t as fun,” Parks said. “It was more about the exercises and being successful than it was about loving the music and enjoying making music together. It just lost its spirit. He did not have pizzazz.”

After graduating high school, Parks went on to the University of Texas, got a degree to teach, took trips around the globe, found her soul-pet, and landed herself in Fredericksburg.

“My first year was really rough, because I was the new choir director after a wonderful choir director who’d been here a long time. Plus, the seniors didn’t really even get to say goodbye, because school ended after spring break in 2020,” Parks said.

“It was a really difficult year because it’s not very much fun to sing in choir when you have to wear masks, stay six feet apart, and you can’t go on field trips or have concerts,” Parks said. 

However, Ms. Parks was able to overcome the rocky mountain that was 2020 and now she has found her place at FHS as the peppy, passionate, and supportive choir director that choir students know and love.