Candidate's Statement: 

My goal for serving on the board of directors for NDEO is to continue the growth and support of the organization as well as for dance education around the country. At a time when education and educators feel under attack from many fronts, I believe serving in this role could not only teach me much about how to advocate for my own program and students but also allow me to connect with others to make our collective voice stronger. I have served in leadership positions in my state organization and helped to connect dance, health, and physical education teachers during my time. I also served my tenure as president to our state organization during COVID-19 and had to work with my committee to create the first-ever virtual conference for our state in less than six months’ time.

My goal when serving at the state level was to create a clearer, more efficient system for our organization and work to bridge the multiple areas of education included in SCAHPERD. I learned how to navigate difficult conversations, how to listen to opposing viewpoints, how to balance time spent serving the organization with career and family duties, and how to work within a non-profit organization’s structure. During my time we were battling with the state legislature which pitted physical educators against band teachers, and we worked to advocate for our movement-based programs in the state. This was also the time when we lost national funding due to the American Heart Association’s suspension of work with SHAPE, our national affiliate, and we had to create a funding source for our organization quickly. We also faced adversity with health issues of board members during my tenure in which I had to take on additional responsibilities in order to ensure the running of our organization could continue without pause. I worked closely with the executive director and came to understand the deep love and commitment it takes for someone to lead these non-profit organizations as it can be a thankless, tiring job for little pay most of the time. Because of this time in my leadership role and the modeling I saw from those I served with, I believe I am now better able to step into a position at NDEO and serve dance educators throughout the nation.

I fiercely believe in the power of dance and dance education but also know that many others may not. I understand the power of a collective voice and want to work to find ways to support dance educators so they can focus on teaching a love of dance to their students, rather than fighting with the nay-sayers outside of their classroom. Currently I continue to work with our state’s dance organization for professionals and helped to create the inaugural state-wide dance performance assessment for concert dance, an advocacy effort that aligns with those programs available for music educators. Leading this team and creating a large scale event that will continue to on for, hopefully, decades to support state K-12 dance programs is the type of leadership I wish to bring to NDEO. In this role on the NDEO board, I want to continue the work others have started to make NDEO even more accessible to dance educators around the country, specifically in the Southeast region. I recognize the power, support, and wisdom that comes from working in a group and how uniting a region of dance educators can strengthen the work already being done in daily classrooms and studios. I would love to work to connect dance educators across state lines so we can have a more unified regional voice and work together to support and uplift not just each other but the profession in general.