Robin

Q. When did you start dancing? How old were you, what type of dance did you do, why did you start dancing?

A.  I have always loved to dance.  I was constantly twirling and whirling as a little girl.  I never sat still.  I have never had any formal training.  Never danced in a studio or anything.  I was on the middle school dance team in Stayton Middle school for one year.  My mom also enrolled me in gymnastics for several years while I was very young.  I loved it.  But, what made me catch the dance team bug was watching my older sister, Dee, on the Highlights.  I loved that!  I loved watching her, and seeing them compete.  It hooked me and pulled me in from the very start.

Q. When you think back to when you first started dancing, what stands out as your favorite part?

A.  My favorite part of dancing was the crowd.  I fed off their applause and cheers.  My parents always said I was such a ham, and they were right!  I loved being in the spotlight and being in front of an audience.  I couldn't get enough, and that is what I miss most now about not dancing.  I miss that rush you get when you step out onto the floor and hear the crowd just erupt for you, and then that feeling you get as you are running off, like you just want to go back out there and do it again.  That was my favorite part!

Q. What schools did you dance for?

A.  I only danced for the Stayton Highlights!!! Whoo Hoo!!!!  Oh, and Stayton Middle school.

Q. Did you receive any dance awards/recognitions?

A.  We got 2nd place at state my Junior year, and 1st place at state my Senior year!!!!  1987 state champs!!!! I also was a member of the all-state team my senior year.  I was a captain too.  My senior year I started doing forms.  I did forms for our first song of our state routine.  I loved it, and think that's why I love doing them so much now, and I am hired to do other teams forms today!
Coaching recognitions:  Coach of the year 2005.

Q. How long have you been coaching? What schools/teams have you coached?

A.  I am going on my 14th year of coaching!  Wow, can't believe it!  I coached at Mckay high school for 5 years.  I started in August of 1995.  We won state at Mckay in 1999.  Coaching at Mckay was very hard because my kids were so small then.  I was actually pregnant with Belle my first year coaching there.  Lexi was just 1 when I started.  My kids have known nothing else, but their mom is a dance team coach!  I used to laugh that Belle was dancing in the womb!LOL  I am now into my 9th season at Stayton High!!!!  I love coaching the Highlights.  It has been my dream since I first saw my older sister walk onto the floor for the first time as a Highlight!  I remember telling my Mckay teams that I would never leave them for another school unless it was Stayton.  One day the coach of Stayton then called me and asked if I would come and coach at Stayton, and the rest is history!!!! I love the Highlights!!!!!

Q. Why did you begin coaching?

A.  I started getting the coaching bug when my younger sister Christi became a Highlight.  She is 8 years younger then me, and I had been out of dance team for a little while.  Well, no I wasn't I was actually judging at that time.  I enjoyed that, but it wasn't rewarding like coaching is.  I also worked at the state competitions helping put those on.  I would help run practice times, and things like that, but what I really wanted to do was be a part of a team again.  I asked the Stayton coach at the time, Lisa Arvey, if I could put together an alumni performance for the Statyon competition.  She said sure, so I did that for about 3 years, and then when my sister, Christi, graduated, I asked her if she wanted to find a team and coach with me.  Mckay came my way, and the rest is history. 

Q. What is your favorite thing(s) about coaching?

A.  There are so many things I love about coaching, I don't know if I can list them all.  I love being with the girls so much.  They are so wonderful.  I love making a family out of all these different and unique individuals.  I love creating greatness together, and accomplishing something that we all set out to do!  I love the creative process.  From a single idea in my head, to picking out music, costumes, forms, choreography, etc.  I love seeing that idea brought to life through each and every one of the dancers.  I love dreaming through them, and seeing those dreams become reality.  I love knowing that I was put in their lives, and they were put in mine by God, and that he has a plan for each and every one of us.  I love being someone in these girls' lives that they can count on, that they can trust, that they can believe in.  Good and bad, I love it all because it's all apart of the Highlights journey!!!

Q. What did you learn from dancing that you hope to pass down to your team? Is there one certain thing that stands in your mind the most that you hope they gain from being on dance team?

A.  I learned that hard work and perseverence pays off!  I learned a work ethic like no other!  I learned that to be a team on the floor, you have to be one off the floor.  All families have their ups and downs, but they always come together when it counts!  I hope they take away from this experience a great sense of self!  I hope they know that with enough hard work and desire they can achieve anything!  Never, ever give up!!!  I hope they will leave this team when it's their time knowing that their coach believed in them and loved them so very much!!!!!!!