This upcoming June, freshman Katie Woods will be flying high over the Atlantic Ocean to experience a unique experience at a unique destination. Katie has been accepted into the International Choir Program, where she will be touring and performing in Germany.

“Because I was a choir major [at Blue Lake], I did not have to audition, but most people had to audition to get in. All I had to do was fill out an application to get in,” Katie said. “Then, they emailed me and told me I got in.”

Through all of this, Katie is very humble about being accepted into the program that is so highly regarded. The program, which is hosted by Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, only accepts 50 singers, and Katie was rightly qualified to be in this talented troupe.

“It was a very competitive program, and for her to be accepted was a huge accomplishment,” Katie’s mother April Woods said. “I sang a bit in church choirs growing up and played the flute during high school. I also danced, but not competitively. Katie definitely is the most talented singer and dancer in our family.”

While Katie may have been passed down the rhythmic genes from her supportive mother, Katie has worked very hard at pursuing her passion for getting where she is today. Katie has been part of the choir at FHC since seventh grade and spent the last summer at Blue Lake as a Choir Major. While at Blue Lake, she took part in classes where she learned the pieces she would eventually be performing and also taking part in tech classes, where she learned new skills and could refine her vocal technique. While Katie has been spending the last few years perfecting her voice, she has spent a much longer time practicing and performing in a different art form.

Katie is also a competitive dancer at Imprint Dance Company. She started dancing at the age of three and is entering her eleventh season dancing.

“At her first recital, she performed a short ballet dance and was so graceful,” said Woods. “She was so confident and poised on stage; never nervous.”

Now, Katie specializes more in tap dancing, rather than in ballet. Katie has had many artistic endeavors throughout her life, beginning as a tiny toddler on stage to a competitive tapper to a choir student, and now a national singer. It all comes down to one thing for Katie: the passion. She loves being on stage and just performing.

“Although she has a beautiful soprano voice and spends a lot of her time at dance and voice lessons,” Woods said, “she truly is a well-rounded kid, is an excellent student, a supportive friend, and a competitive performer, who just so happens to be touring Europe with an elite choir.”