By Allie Fleming
Staff Writer
Fourth-grader Katelyn Branch’s voice starts to squeal when she heard the words Prospect poms clinic.
“I love being able to play in front of everyone in the stands,” Branch said without a breath between words.
Along with 100 other girls, Branch is counting down the days until Jan. 29. This is not the date of Halloween or her birthday — it’s the date of the Prospect poms clinic, the day and night that young girls like Branch get to show off their dance moves to a full audience.
Branch is a student at Lions Park Elementary school and has done the poms clinic for the last three years. This will be the fifteenth year that the poms clinic has run and the ninth year that poms coach Courtney Fleaka will be in charge.
“The poms clinic is a good fundraiser and allows the girls to get involved in the community,” Fleaka said.
The clinic’s main purpose is to raise money for the annual turnabout dance hosted by the poms team. All leftover money from the clinic goes to the team’s uniforms and accessories.
“I like this better than other fundraisers because this way we get to promote ourselves to the public and enjoy dancing at the same time,” junior Tori Alesi said.
The clinic consists of young girls from grades kindergarten to eighth that will come to the high school for three hours during the day to learn a dance routine.
The girls will be split into groups according to grade, and each group will be taught a dance routine appropriate for their age levels.
After learning the routine, each girl will get a snack, a t-shirt and a CD with the song they have heard on repeat for the last three hours. The girls will then go home and practice the routine, only to return later for the halftime performance of the boys’ varsity basketball game.
“This year, I will have more friends [in the poms clinic], and I like learning from the older girls,” Branch said.
Branch said learning from the older girls is great because they have been dancing for such a long time.
“[The poms girls] are very nice and usually helpful,” said Branch.
Alesi explained that the younger girls, like Branch, are full of energy and giggles; however, the older girls are there to focus on learning the dance in hopes for a preview of trying out for poms in the years to come.
“I like that I get to share my passion for dance with girls of all ages,” Alesi said.
