Above the Water: Herbert Hoover High Impact Seniors Remember Floods and Fulfillment
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By Tonya Chase, West Virginia contributor
The ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus once said, “no man ever steps in the same river twice.” It is a thought to ponder while driving along the Elk River that flows through the city of Clendenin, West Virginia. It begins in the mountains of Pocahontas County, traveling 172 winding miles before converging with the Kanawha River in Charleston. Its banks are filled with lush trees and sprinkled with towns that began centuries ago. It seems quiet and still, like the people who live there, steadily moving forward.
On June 23, 2016, a stalled storm dropped more than eight inches of rain in the mountains along the Elk River. Debris from the high winds and runoff from the mountainous terrain made its way into the valley, causing the Elk River to rise to 33 feet at Queens Shoals in Kanawha County, a whopping 14 feet above flood stage. Over 200 homes in the city of Clendenin were lifted from their foundations as the Elk River expanded into the streets. Residents and travelers were stranded at the Elk River Crossing Plaza as the water wrapped its currents around the local bridge, dragging it into the river and floating down stream.
Eventually, seven feet of water receded, leaving a layer of mud and debris throughout the hallways of Herbert Hoover High School. The wooden floors of the gymnasium heaved from the swelling. The effects of the flood were felt among school programs including Herbert Hoover’s show choir, High Impact.
“When the flood first happened, our major concern was 'are all of our member’s families okay?', and 'what are their needs?',” said Kathy Silber, director of High Impact. “Over half of the group had lost their homes and all of their personnel items. Many were displaced to other distant family members’ and friends’ homes.”
After ensuring the students were safe, attention turned to the devastating effects to her program. High Impact had spent nineteen years fundraising, building the show choir from the ground up only for it to be lost as the water finally returned to the river banks.
“We lost everything,” said Silber. “Brand new platform risers, new show choir trailer, all of our band equipment. Everything was gone.”
Just as destructive was the lost history that couldn’t be replaced. Scrapbooks of past choirs, trophies, and portraits of former students didn’t survive the rising waters.
Both Herbert Hoover High School and Clendenin Elementary were among six schools that were condemned, leaving administrators, some of whom experienced losses of their own, scrambling to find a solution. For young students at Clendenin Elementary, it meant instead of walking to school, they were forced to ride a bus to Bridge Elementary, where portable classrooms accommodated the extra students.
“Travel was a lot harder,” Jeremiah Eagle, senior member and dance captain for High Impact, said looking back on that time.
This time was challenging for high school students as well. Portable classrooms were set up at Elk River Middle School to house the nearly eight hundred students from Herbert Hoover High School. With such great loss, Silber, along with High Impact parents, wanted to provide normalcy to students.
“Three days after the flood, I got a text from a girl in the show choir who had lost everything. She begged me to keep show choir going,” she recalled. “[She said] ‘I have lost everything I own. Please keep show choir going so that I have hope.”
Silber got to work meeting with her boosters, knowing the greatest resource she had was not lost. A return to activity happened almost immediately. Two weeks after the flood, High Impact hosted a summer show choir camp at Elk Center Elementary School with a borrowed keyboard and taped lines to represent risers.
Silber knew she couldn’t wait for government assistance. Any potential money received from FEMA would be delayed at a time when the students needed stability. In hopes of providing a 2017 season, Silber reached out on a Facebook group for show choir professionals, asking for prayer and explaining that High Impact is self-funded. In response, the show choir community banded together to support one of its own.
“Our prayers were being answered.”
Choirs from West Virginia and Ohio stepped up, raising money and donating equipment. Clover Hill High School in Midlothian, Virginia contributed not only to the show choir, but to the Elk River community as well.
“Besides raising a lot of money for us, they collected four semi-truck loads of relief items for the flooded areas of West Virginia,” said Silber.
Other organizations reached out as well. The West Virginia Symphony hosted a benefit concert to raise money for music programs affected. Show Choir Camps of America donated gift cards for JW Pepper Publishing and provided financial support to replace items lost. A GoFundMe campaign received donations from community members, alumni, and extended families.
With Silber’s spirit, and the donations of so many, High Impact was able to start the 2017 season. The school adopted the mantra “Hoover Up!,” encouraging students to not let their present circumstances determine their tomorrow. They began working on their show “Taking Back Oz,” reminding the people of Elkview and Clendenin that the rainbow was a sign of hope and promise.
Even with West Virginia's governor declaring a state of emergency and President Obama declaring a major disaster area, construction on a new school for Herbert Hoover students moved slowly. Bureaucratic red tape and mandatory environmental impact studies took years to complete. In October of 2019, more than three years after the historic flood, FEMA approved the new site and within a month, West Virginia's senators secured funding for the the $52.3 million project. Ground broke on the new location in January 2020, only to be halted as America experienced a pandemic that wreaked havoc on global supply chains. A lack of necessary supplies caused delays and increased costs. To support the ongoing construction of the school, a second funding bill for $27 million passed in 2022.
While portable classrooms worked in a typical school setting, they presented challenges for show choir. Senior members of High Impact recalled their experiences trying to rehearse.
“It was stressful,” commented Emilee Haddox, a three-year dance captain and section leader. “There wasn’t a lot of room.”
“It was cramped,” echoed Sofia Perna, a four-year member and section leader. “People would be upset about placements because they were in the wall.”
Besides the lack of space, learning choreography in this makeshift space created other challenges for these performers. Even though one wall was eliminated to make space for a large group, in a building designed to be two classrooms, it still needed the structural support columns that were spread throughout the staging area.
“There were no mirrors,” said Katie Salai, a four-year senior and two-year dance captain, “and there were these wooden poles in the middle that you had to work around.”
The circumstances forced Silber to primarily focus on vocal performance in the classroom, moving dance rehearsals to Elk River Middle School’s auditorium during after-school practice, but even that space was small. Riser configurations and blocking were limited, forcing Silber and her choreographer to adjust. For members of the stage crew, the narrow hallway and long exposure to the outdoors brought about their own problems.
“Transporting [equipment] was difficult,” commented Eagle, remembering the long walks from the classroom to the auditorium an entire building away.
Unable to store large scenes in their temporary setting, High Impact began using digital screens for their sets. While heavy, they were smaller, easier to store, and more compact to transport. Images could be changed with each production, making them versatile as everyone waited for the new school to be built.
After performing on a small and cramped stage at home, 2026's senior class experienced the largest stage they had ever seen at their first competition – the 2023 Beavercreek Midwest Show Choir Classic outside of Dayton, Ohio. A large warm-up room, staging area, equipment room, and auditorium shocked the young performers.
“I didn’t realize we didn’t have as much as other choirs,” commented Haddox. “It was all I knew.”
Still, with limited facilities, High Impact’s Jumanji show earned second place in small mixed at Beavercreek and later fourth runner-up at the West Virginia State Show Choir Festival.
While unable to host their own competition, Silber and her boosters had to come up with creative ways to fund the program.
“We live in a very supportive area,” said Silber. “Dinner theatres were always well attended by the community. Purse Bingos were a huge hit, and we have been blessed with a supporter that purchases all of the designer purses for us. Our group has worked at the Charleston Civic Center working dinners and events.”
In the fall of 2023, seven years after the previous building was condemned, Kanawha County Schools opened the doors to the new Herbert Hoover High School. Going from a small mobile classroom to a large rehearsal space was an exciting change. Large mirrors with staging numbers across the top lined one wall of the room, and four sets of risers per row were comfortably staged. A shelf was created about eleven feet from the ground to support the trophies the group had earned since 2017.
“[Having the mirrors] was the most helpful thing,” commented Perna. Her fellow seniors agreed. Being able to learn choreography, appropriate facial expressions, and make corrections became much easier.
Along with the new classroom, High Impact went a different creative direction, hiring Tara Tober to choreograph their Wednesday show, inspired by the streaming series. Students became more motivated and showed great improvement over the previous year.
“Being able to bring a professional into this space - the atmosphere changed,” recalled Parker Workman, a four-year senior and dance captain.
Not only did High Impact have space to rehearse, but it had space to store props,
sets, and equipment not in use. They also had the space to build larger backgrounds
similar to other schools they competed against. Silber took advantage, designing a large
wall and gate for the Nevermore Academy backdrop for the Wednesday show.
The new space kept on giving. In March 2024, twelve choirs from West Virginia and Ohio took the stage as Herbert Hoover hosted their inaugural competition, the River Classic.
“Hosting our own competition has been a dream of ours,” commented Silber. “It
was not until we got into our own school that we finally had the space and ability. For
years we had written down what we love about other comps and tried to make our
competition into that.”
It was important to Silber that small choirs like her own have the opportunity to succeed. Unlike other competitions that take the top choirs to finals regardless of division, the River Classic gives finals spots to the top two choirs from each division.
“[We wanted] a competition where everyone was welcomed, where both small and large groups are treated equal and everyone has a great day,” noted Silber.
Since the inaugural competition, High Impact has hosted choirs from across West Virginia, Ohio and Virginia. With the competition’s success, Silber and her staff have been able to grow the program, becoming more competitive each year.
Two years later, High Impact took to the stage at the 2026 Cabell Midland Rhythm in Red Invitational with their Tell-Tale Heart show, inspired by the short story by Edgar Allen Poe. Competing against Clover Hill New Dimensions, the choir that helped them keep the program running during those early post-flood years, High Impact earned their first recorded overall Grand Championship title.
“We came from very little to be where we are,” said Perna, remembering what she calls one of the greatest experiences of her life. “A lot of schools think they can’t have a show choir because they aren’t going to do well. They don’t have a lot of money. We do a lot of fundraising. We are self-funded. We don’t have dance training. If we want vocal help, we ask Mrs. Silber. You don’t need all that to have show choir. You just need passion.”
This year's senior class is the last group of students who remember what High Impact was like before the new rehearsal space, before being able to create large sets, and before having a school of their own. Clinching a grand championship with that perspective meant much more than personal accolades.
“There are no pictures in this room from 2016 or before,” Workman commented as he looked around the space. “So much history was part of that old building. We need to leave our mark - our history.”
Heraclitus was right. The Elk River today isn’t the same as the one that flooded this community, but neither are the students who lived through it. They leave High Impact with their own stories of resilience and determination, and their own history.