Niwot High Arts Student of the Week-Tessa Whittaker

Senior Tessa Whittaker hasn't been a Niwot High student for long, but she's making up for lost time in the school's vocal music department, according to choir director Laura Walters. Though a recent transfer, the talented singer has quickly become "an amazing leader" that other students look to for guidance.

"Tessa is always upbeat and brings such a positive energy to her choirs," Roberts wrote in an email interview. "In one of the choirs, she took the initiative to create a group chat so everyone could communicate as much as they needed for upcoming performances. ... She is a great singer, fantastic team player, and morale booster for everyone in her class."

Whittaker attended St. Vrain's online classes before enrolling at Niwot for her senior year. She is currently a member of the treble and Sedalia choirs, the latter an auditioned group exclusively for girls. She was also recently selected to be a member of the all-district honor choir for a fourth straight year.

"One of my favorite pieces I've ever sung was in the honor choir during my freshman year," she said. "It was 'Sisi Ni Moja,' and it was a really uplifting song. And it was really cool to be able to sing that with so many other people from so many different schools."

Whittaker has been singing since a young age, and started performing with auditioned choirs in seventh grade. She doesn't limit herself to a single vocal range, but often prefers the soprano part.

"We have a lot of fun harmonies and clash notes that we get to play around with, rather than just being melody, or an octave harmony," she said.

Whittaker is also an aspiring songwriter and musician, and often accompanies herself either on piano or guitar. She also plays violin and is currently learning the drums.