Kristen Ross has replaced Amy Stephens as chorus director after winter break. This change came after Stephens decided to move back to Baltimore, where she used to live.

“I actually had heard from my mentor teacher who works at Melbourne High School that [West Shore was looking for a new chorus teacher],” Ross said. “It was a Saturday, and I just had a conversation with someone the previous day about how I was going to long-term sub and it was going to be fun and how it’s really hard seeing people I graduated with already have jobs and me just being a sub. But then this job opened, and I got it.“

Ross, a Brevard County native, went to Eau Gallie High School and later the University of Central Florida.

“I want to inspire people to make music the same way that I was inspired,” Ross said. “Music saved me from a lot of really difficult things, and it was an avenue of success for me. It was a safe haven so I could be successful but also have a community of people around me that like liked me and supported me.”

Ross interned at Melbourne High School with their chorus before she came to West Shore.

“The experience at Mel was so great in that when you walk into a new job or a new experience, you don’t know what you don’t know,” Ross said. “At Mel, being there every single day with those kids, I formed a lot of really awesome relationships that are really special to me even now, and those really affected me.”

The mid-year teacher change has been an adjustment for freshman Aiden Bausum.

“It’s definitely a change from being with Ms. Stephens because it’s different switching teachers mid-year, but she’s getting the hang of it,” Bausum said.  “It’s not just difficult for the students because she was only taught to teach chorus and she has AP Music Theory and theater on top of it, but she’s a pretty good teacher.” 

Ross said she hopes to keep things mostly the same from Stephens’ time with the program.

“I just got through voicing every single student, [which is] seeing what [the] highest note they can sing [is], the lowest note they can sing, and where they’re most comfortable with their range,” Ross said. “Some voice parts might change, but for the majority they’ve stayed the same. I don’t want to come in and uproot and change everything because I want people to feel like they’ve been successful at what they’ve been doing so far. I think there’s a lot of change to come, but I don’t think it’s right now.”

By Daniel Mirell