By Karen Vance

FAIRFIELD - For a group of 67 teens and their parents, Show Choir is about more than singing and dancing.

This year, the Fairfield Choraliers at Fairfield High School have swept the awards at nearly every competition they've participated in. They rounded out the season March 22 with a grand champion award at Findlay Fest at Findlay High, one of the state's most prestigious show choir competitions.

"It's all about teamwork. We all have to work together all the time. We have to be on our toes all the time," senior Emily Wharton said. "It's much more than singing and dancing. Everyone working together; that's what it takes."

Dan Prior, director of the 40 singers and dancers, 15 instrumentalists and 12 stage crew, said this was by far the Choraliers' best season. And the show, the prison-themed "Rock the House," featuring a set with jail bars, the band in orange jumpsuits, the stage crew in prison guard uniforms and the performers in black and white stripes, requires the most cooperation of any show they've done in his 14 years with the program.

"This is the first group where each part is entirely dependent on everyone doing their part, starting back in the summer with the dads building the jail cells," Prior said. "We do the little fine-tune stuff that a lot of groups don't think about. I think that's what separates us from other groups."

The Choraliers and the Fairfield Middle School show choir, the Rhythm Express, will perform their shows at 7:30 p.m. April 29 at the Fairfield High School Performing Arts Center. The concert is free and open to the public.

About 110 children will head to a new place for preschool today. The Theodore M. Berry Head Start Children and Family Learning Center, 880 Court St. in the West End, will open at 10 a.m., 21/2 years after its groundbreaking.

The center is the first facility of its kind to be built by the Cincinnati-Hamilton County Community Action Agency Head Start, which serves 4,000 preschool children.

Most Head Start preschools are held in church basements and similar locations. But in this building, which features an outside play area and focus areas for social, emotional and educational growth, children ages 3 to 5 will attend school in eight of the 10 classrooms. The other two classrooms will house children up to age 3 in the fall, bringing the total up to 135 children.

"We tried to get the best, not in terms of cost, but in terms of the development of the children, so when they go to kindergarten they are at the same level if not above other 5-year-olds," said Deborah Gaines, assistant director of Head Start.

Allen Howard is on vacation. Karen Vance will write "Some Good News" until he returns April 8. If you have a "good news" story you would like to share, e-mail her at kvance@fuse.net.