$500 Spirit of Love High School Scholarship
As an eighth grader at Mary Immaculate School, who enjoys volunteering, I have seen a difference in my community through volunteering my time with the MIS spirits. I am a dancer and Lieutenant of the High stepper drill team, every Friday during football season; I would spend time helping the Spirits. The Spirits are a group of fifth and sixth grade girls who dance during halftime at the JV football games. These girls come into Spirits not knowing a thing about dance, my goal every year is to take those girls and start their knowledge about dance and help them see that they have the confidence to dance in front of others. For the past two years, I have been volunteering with the Spirits and each year I see a change in every girl. Last year the group of girls was huge, there were thirty girls on the team. This year there were only eight. It was a drastic change, but it did not stop me from reaching my goal. This year there was only one girl who knew how to dance, and the rest were soccer, volleyball, and basketball players. It was not easy to change them from stiff sport players to graceful dancers. The sixth graders that I had last year and this year did not know how to do a right turn, a leap, kick, or know how to keep their arms straight during military dance. That all changed this year, yes the leaps are not perfect, the kicks are a little low, and every once in a while I have to remind them about their arms, but the girls started Spirits knowing nothing. I also saw a change in confidence in the girls, at first they were shy on the field and not smile. Now, they smile, have fun on the field, and remember all the steps. As for the fifth graders, again they know nothing about dance, but yet at competition they blew me away, with the knowledge they took from my teaching they looked like a “Real” drill team. Not only as individuals did they get better, but as the year past the girls learned to work as a team. At first working with the girls started as a passion for dance, but it grew into building great relationships with each girl. I believe that due to the closeness in age, the girls began to trust me. They not only come to me with questions about dance, but they come to me with problems about their home life, school life, and friendships. Every year I am proud of each girl who does Spirits because each year they take something that I taught them and somewhat perfect it. I have learned that God has given me the gift of dance to not only build confidence and teach different dance styles but to use it to build friendships and community.Show/Hide Footer Actions