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Kickin’ it at Harmony Grove |
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Thursday, 16 July 2009 |
 Members of the newly formed Harmony Grove High School Dance Team practice a routine Wednesday during a private camp held at the school. In the back from left are Terra Landon, Taylor Nash, Toni Elrod and Quina McClendon. In the front are Paige Russell, Summer Sanders, Molly White, Toni Alexander and Brittany Robertson.
Football is now offered for junior high and junior varsity boys, and now girls have the option to perform at halftime on the dance team. The school has an award-winning cheerleading program, and the dance team will enter the mix this school year.
Dance coach Joy Amason said the dance team will be separate from the cheer program.
“We will be performing at halftime at football and basketball games, but it’s all new and we’ll see how it goes this year,” she said.
Tryouts were held in May and out of 13 girls, 11 were chosen, Amason said. One girl had to drop out, so now 10 girls make up the team. Co-captains are juniors Toni Alexander and Brittany Robertson.
The team’s name is Harmony Grove High Cardinal Kickers.
This week, the girls have been dancing from morning to evening as part of a private camp conducted by Universal Dance Association. An UDA instructor has been at the school all week teaching the girls routines to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” Jonas Brothers’ “Burn it Up” and more.
“I’m really proud of them,” Amason said, noting most of the girls have had no formal dance training. “They are hard workers. This is a good group of girls.”
She said she looks forward to seeing them perform for the rest of the school.
Freshman Tori Elrod said the dance team will be good for the school “because it’s a new activity that brought us together and will keep us out of trouble.”
“We’re going to try and bring the school spirit up and, hopefully, everyone can come together,” Elrod said.
Co-captain Robertson said the team “teaches responsibility and helps us become better people. It also brings us closer to people we otherwise might not talk to.”
She added, “I think we will help school spirit.”
Amason said she has been impressed with the leadership skills of Robertson and Alexander.
As part of the Arkansas Activities Association, the girls will have to follow the same requirements as other sports and teams, such as maintaining a 2.0 GPA, Amason said.
Others on the team are seniors Terra Landon and Sarah Forizs; juniors Paige Russell and Summer Sanders; and freshmen Taylor Nash, Molly White and Quina McClendon.
There also is a junior high dance team coached by Becky Hutson. Amason is a speech-language pathologist for the school district and Hutson teaches at Westbrook Elementary School.
Amason said she had the idea to form a dance team two years ago when the school district originally tried to pass a millage increase to start a football program. It failed that time, but because the measure passed on a second attempt, the idea to form a dance team was brought to the school board and approved.
Being new, the team will not participate in competitions this year, but this might change in years to follow, Amason said.
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Razorbacks
