Before winter break, choir students were informed that they would be returning to school with a new teacher in 2025, due to a promotion that former choir director Claire Minnis had received at another job. Prior to this news, choir teacher Gabrielle Pierle was chosen to serve as a maternity substitute for Summit’s choir program in April and May, leading her to become the new choir director for the rest of the 2024-2025 school year.
Senior Shekinah Annin, a member of one of the top choirs called One Voice, said that she understands Minnis’s decision to leave Summit, despite her initial shock.
“I was really surprised [about the news that Minnis was leaving], but I knew that our old choir teacher made a really tough decision, and that she was thinking of us when she made the decision, but I was also really excited to meet the new choir teacher,” Annin said.
Pierle said it has been difficult to adjust to her new job so quickly over winter break, but she enjoys the speed at which she’s been able to start.
“Oftentimes teachers, if they depart a job, they’ll leave in May and then you have all of Summer Break to figure things out, so it’s been hectic and chaotic, but also really fun to get to dive right in faster than many of my other jobs where I have all of Summer Break to think about it,” Pierle said.
With a new teacher comes a new teaching style, and One Voice member junior Mackenzie Moreno said that Pierle has already done well improving the choir’s technique in only a short amount of time.
“Within the first few rehearsals, even our warm-ups are sounding nicer, they’re sounding more choral, as they should. I think she’s going to be a really good addition to Rockwood Summit choirs,” Moreno said.
Pierle said that she has been a part of choir since she was very young, and has gone through a lot of school to prepare for her last few years that she’s spent teaching choir.
“I got my degree in music, and then I got my master’s degree in conducting, so I’ve done a lot of school, and then this year I’m here at Summit teaching for my seventh year. That’s kind of my prior experience [teaching], but I have personally sung in choir forever. I’ve always loved choir,” Pierle said.
Minnis’s career at Summit lasted a total of two and a half years, meaning that for some seniors in choir, this is their second time transitioning from one choir teacher to another. Annin said that this transition has been less major than her first, because the choir program now has a stronger foundation.
“We have an established choir program. I feel like when we switched teachers last time, the choir program was a lot smaller, but now there’s a lot more people in choir and we’ve established a system, so I feel like it was less of a drastic change,” Annin said.
Pierle graduated from Summit in 2012, and said she was happy to return because she loved the community of the school and district.
“Summit just has a way of feeling like family, and feeling like a comforting place, plus it’s just an amazing school district, we have such great facilities. I feel so lucky that this job came open at this perfect time,” Pierle said.
