Like many of the clubs and classes in the music department, SHS’s male a cappella group, Dive In, had to take a lengthy hiatus from practices as they knew them.
Unfortunately, this caused a few minor setbacks for recruiting new members. Since 2018, senior Noah Kleitsch has been a dedicated member of Dive In, and although his group is a bit smaller than normal this year, he hopes to make this year one to remember.
Co-leading alongside junior Sam Ross, one of Kleitsch’s main responsibilities is teaching the group their parts, but he wants to make sure that everybody is having fun while doing so.
“Our first practice, we played Quiplash on Jackbox when we were supposed to be picking a song,” Kleitsch says. “We have fun together.”
Kleitsch works so hard to ensure that each member enjoys themselves while they are at practice because he knows their enjoyment plays a major role in the quality of their performances.
“I think it’s a lot better to learn music when you actually like the people you’re with, and I like all my members of Dive In,” Kleitsch says.
This year will be Kleitsch’s fourth and final year participating in Dive In. Over the past three years, Kleitsch has been able to experience Dive In under three different leaders. He expresses that the most impactful leader and mentor was the leader of the group during his freshman year.
“I started out with a great teacher. His name was Matthew Gille,” Kleitsch says. “I really thought he incorporated having a fun time and having instructor time. I thought he really mixed those two together, and I kinda want to [base my teaching style] off of his because it really was one of the greatest groups that I’ve had during my high school career.” Kleistch feels as though there is a misconception as to what Dive In truly is and he hopes to clear that up.
“I think a lot of people think that it’s just like another class that they will have to go to on one of their days off,” Kleitsch says. “Dive in is a place where I can kinda build this sort of community that wouldn’t have been created, build a group of friends that probably wouldn’t have talked to each other before.”
Kleitsch was very adamant about offering himself up for any questions to those curious about the group and possibly joining.
He says to email him with any questions at [email protected] and to follow the Dive In Instagram account at shsdivein for more information and updates.
“I’m hoping to see you soon,” Kleitsch says. “It’s a really fun group.”