Recently WHS has started a brand new spring dance club, but if you’re interested in dance, you probably have some questions such as, who’s teaching it? What styles of dance will they do? And most importantly what is the Spring Dance Club? Spring Dance Club is a student-run organization supervised by an adult that lets the students organize and choreograph their own dances in a safe, fun and educational way. The Spring Dance Club will help give WHS students the opportunity to be involved with dance at WHS. The dance club is even more important as there are no longer dance classes inside WHS. WHS used to have dance classes but after the dance teacher took a maternity leave WHS has not gotten another teacher resulting in dance being no longer available. As for who’s teaching it, meet Mrs. Lauren Jefferson Mackey or as her dancers call her Miss Lauren. She attended Luther college and minored in dance and theater, she’s been dancing and teaching for 20 years now and even started her own dance team at her college. She also has taught dancers Pre K through adults. When asked where she got the inspiration for this program she said, “I figured since Wauconda does not have this type of club, I would love to start it. I was encouraged to start this club by Mrs. Dewelde, who also thinks this would be a great club and a great opportunity for students to connect with other dancers at WHS. After her encouragement, I discussed this idea with Mrs. Flanagan who is helping me get this club up and running!”. Miss Lauren told the newspaper that she does “not think [she has] one favorite style of dance that [she would] like to teach … but [she loves] when [her] students get the skill they were working so hard on, or to see their growth each year in dance.”. Their first meeting was on February 1st 2024, however we still thought it was important to get insight from a dancer in her new program on why she was interested in the club. Clara Strain, a junior at WHS who has been dancing for 12 years now, joined because “it was another opportunity to do more dance and perform”. The orchesis program will provide an artistic outlet for many students to express themself while simultaneously learning and having fun. If you have more questions or want to join feel free to email [email protected].
