Westwood Community School, Iowa

Currently in his 36th year of teaching vocal music, Tom Gerking spent the first 33 years teaching at Westwood Community School in Sloan, Iowa. His singers achieved honors at All‑State Chorus, Opus Honor Choir and Outstanding Performance at the Iowa High School Music Association (IHSMA) Solo / Ensemble Festival. Singers earned countless Division I ratings at the IHSMA Solo / Ensemble and Large Group Festivals. 

Student participation averaged 60 - 70 percent of the entire high school student body. Many Westwood singers participated in honor choirs and festivals throughout the region, performed the national anthem during the school year and were involved with madrigal dinners, musicals and show choir. Gerking led a robust show choir program featuring the Rebelaires, Voices in Motion and 6th Dimension. The Rebelaires competed at a very high level throughout the Midwest and on the national stage.

Gerking and a group of Westwood show choir parents envisioned and created a show choir festival to be hosted annually at the Westwood Community School. In 2000, Jubilation became an annual tradition at Westwood that continues to celebrate show choirs from across the Midwest. Thousands of parents and community volunteers have given of their time to make Jubilation a lasting tradition. The tradition of excellence lives on!

Westside Middle School, Nebraska

Currently, Gerking leads over 350 singers at Westside Middle School (WMS) in Omaha, Neb. Approximately 160 of those students are involved in its show choirs - Westside Connection and Treble Express. Students under Gerking's direction have participated in honor choirs, state choirs and summer honor choirs. The 8th Grade Select Choir was one of the featured guest choirs at the Nebraska Music Education Association (NMEA) Fall Conference held at the University of Nebraska in 2025.

WMS continues to host the Battle of the Show Choirs, which was established in 2007. Gerking feels blessed to teach with an amazing staff, including collaborative pianist Denise Millard, WMS band director Tim Rischling and WMS strings director Ken Meints. Massive parent, school and community support is key to all of the successes experienced at WMS. 

Nationwide

Gerking has choreographed show choirs from the elementary level to the collegiate level. He served as a staff member for summer show choir camps, including Show Choir Omaha!, Buena Vista University, SNJ Studios, Butler Community College and the University of Southern Mississippi. In the summer of 2026, he will serve on the staff of the Florida Show Choir Intensive.

He continues to serve as a show choir and choral music adjudicator and clinician throughout the country. He also serves as conductor for several conference, district and statewide choral festivals in Iowa and Nebraska. He served the Iowa Choral Directors Association (ICDA) in numerous ways throughout his career in Iowa, including Fall Symposium Chair, Summer Symposium Co-Chair, NW District Chair, Opus Bass Clef Chair and Chair of Chairs on the ICDA Executive Board. Gerking also served as conductor of the 2011 ICDA Opus Bass Clef Choir.

Awards

Gerking earned a Bachelor of Music Education from Morningside University and has done graduate work at the University of Iowa and Drake University. He was awarded the 2021 Morningside University Coda Legacy Award and the 2023 ICDA Robert McCowen Award.