WHS senior receives state's top choir honor

WORLAND – Worland High School senior MacKenzie Cottrell received the top honor in choir by being named Outstanding Senior in Choir for Wyoming by the Wyoming Music Educators Association.

Worland High School choir teacher Chad Rose stated that each year the Wyoming Music Educators Association awards a Wyoming student the Outstanding Senior in Choir award. Out of around 750 auditions for the all-state choir, four students with outstanding auditions are chosen: one alto, one soprano, one tenor and one bass. Those four students are then asked to go through an application process which includes transcripts, a resumé and an essay. From the application process one student is chosen to receive the award.

Cottrell has worked hard throughout her high school career to achieve this honor and the honor of making the all-state choir each year of her high school career. Even with all the hard work she was surprised by the award. "At first I was shocked to know that I was in the top four. Even that is a huge accomplishment. I have seen this award being given out since my freshman year, and it has been in the back of my mind that that would be really cool to get that but I never thought that it was an actual possibility. But last year, Mr. Rose, my choir teacher, he had suggested that I really work hard because he thought that I had a shot at it this year and I didn't think so at all. My main goal for high school was to make it (all-state choir) all four years and so when I did that, which is a huge goal, it was a really scary goal to set, but when I did that I was so excited. But this just way exceeded my expectations of anything. It was the perfect way to end my high school career," Cottrell stated.

Rose could not say enough about the hard work and determination of Cottrell. He stated that last year she put a lot of pressure on herself to be one of the students who made all-state choir all four years of high school and really struggled through the audition process. This year they brought a different focus and gave her multiple opportunities to succeed before she went to the big audition. "I think that there were only 10 kids statewide that made all-state choir all four years. MacKenzie is a pretty stand out kid. She's active in athletics and academics and her academics are strong. She's a leader on her teams, she's been all-state multiple times in drama and she serves as student council vice president. We are very lucky to have a student like her," Rose stated.

Music has been a huge part of Cottrell's life and her mother has been the force that has motivated her. "I have been singing since I was little, my family loves music. I actually wrote about that. We had to submit an essay, once I was one of the final four and the question was 'why is music important to you?' I talked about my childhood and also how my mom can't hear. She loves music and is always singing and wanting to sing, so I kind of used that to motivate me and really try to further my skills, so that she can benefit from it as well," Cottrell said. "I love music, I think that it's a great thing, it's something that you can do for life. It's not just a temporary thing and that's why I wanted to expand my skills in high school," she added.

Rose stated, "I'm super proud of her. I've taught for 18 years and I've had finalists before, but this is the first time that I have been able to work with a student who has won. It's a pretty big honor and for the program it's definitely a sign that we are headed in the right direction."

MacKenzie is the daughter of Carl and Candace Doerr Cottrell.