Colby Spirit Squad host junior dance clinic

               The Colby High School Spirit Squad hosted a junior dance clinic at the Colby Grade School gymnasium on Jan. 20.  The squad was training the next generation of dancers to help bring school spirit to games and events. 

                  With the Orange and Black Classic upon us, the Spirit Squad will be featuring the junior dancers during the CHS girls basketball game on Thursday Jan. 23 at 6:30 P.M.  The squad will highlight the younger kids' ability to work through three cheers, and then one choreographed dance.

 A lot to learn for the junior dancers in one day, but coach Denita Rogers has faith the young group will put it all together on Thursday.  Rodgers has been running the dance team for seventeen years; however, this is the first year where they have mixed the drill team with the cheer squad to form the Spirit Squad.

                  This year’s squad is led by seniors Emma Johnson, Kaitlyn Carillo, Alexis Gatz, Hailey Bolyard, Beth McKinney, Annie Morris, Lyssa Rinehart, Emilie Stramel, Chelsy Weigel, and Olivia Williams.  The junior dancers consist of girls from kindergarten through fifth grade, all of which was full of energy. 

                  The squad first spent time learning three cheers for the game, “Colby Eagles, C H S, and Colby Eagles C H S.”  This then led into practicing choreography for the big performance. 

Broken into three parts and simplified for the younger children, coach Rodgers kept the class fun for the junior dancers making sure they were engaged the whole time.  In what would be considered work by older generations, the youth kept a smile and excitement for a couple hours. 

                  The kids weren’t over worked, they did get to enjoy snack time with their favorite dancers eating granola bars and drinking capri suns. 

Then they returned to practice for an eight-year old’s dream, performing at home in front of a frenzied crowd.  A moment that will last forever in their young minds as well as their parents and family. 

The high school team didn’t stop at training the young ones on dancing, they also spent time working on how to become a performer.  Keeping a smile throughout the performance, maintaining eye contact with their audience, and being graceful through mistakes. 

You can catch the Spirit squad at Eagle home basketball games, next one being Jan. 23 at the Colby Event Center.