Stanbury Stallionettes Drill Team

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Practice Starts

We start up practice again on Monday! I hope you all had a wonderful week off and continued to stretch and work on technique!

This week we will be cleaning Camp Dance and Hip Hop. Please be reviewing these dances so we don't have to re-teach. Also, make sure you bring your hip hop shoes EVERYDAY!

During warm-ups, please do your best and utilize your time. Put all your effort and focus on the technique of warm ups so we do things correctly. Your Captain's and Drill Mistress will critique and fix you; it is their job! Please follow their example and listen to them. They are your leaders and are here to help you. Chantal and I will also be spending more time observing and fixing you during warm ups.

Don't forget that our MILITARY BOOT CAMP is this upcoming Saturday! You will be learning and trying out a portion Friday 6-8:30 and Boot Camp is Saturday 6am-2pm. You NEED to have your splits and your headstand to be in Military. Please put a lot of practice into these elements this week! Military is going to be great!

Come ready to work hard this week!!! Keep up the great work ladies- we are going to be fantastic this year!

Parent Meeting

Remember that our Parent and Dancer Meeting is this upcoming Wednesday, August 3rd at 7pm. It will be held at the High School and I will let you know which room it will be in the next couple days. We will be talking a lot about parent gear, dancer gear, Stansbury Days, Boot Camp, Etc.. Please let myself, Chantal, or Karla know if you are unable to attend. Thank you!

Mandatory Facebook Fundraiser

Hopefully you all looked into our Facebook Fundraiser. This is a MANDATORY fundraiser. Each girl needs to go to our fundraiser page on facebook and click on the "Group Members Click Here" button. Share this fundraiser with all your family and friends.

Each girl is required to sell 8 restaurant.com cards. This may seem like a lot, but you will have until October 1st to complete. You have 2 months to sell 8 cards- that's only 4 per month!

You have all the information you need on facebook. You will send your buyer to our facebook fundraiser page at http://apps.facebook.com/fiftygiftcard/?fund_id=192459 or, to make it easier, give them our blog address shsdrill.blogspot.com and have them click through our fundraiser tab up top. All money will be donated online- you will not have to collect anything. Make sure you have them leave a comment on our fundraiser page of which dancer they went through so you get the credit, or make sure you tell me.

This really is a GREAT deal. Pay $20 to receive a $50 restaurant gift card?! INCREDIBLE!!!

Just because you have two months to complete it, doe not mean you should procrastinate. If any of you can sell all of your cards by September 1st, I will give you merits! So, get going!

Friday, July 29, 2011

Merits Awarded

Some merits have been given to Paige and Maddie! During our dead week, they participated in a hip hop camp with the Dance Centre. Awesome job ladies!

Demerits

I just wanted to take a minute to clarify any gray areas on the procedures of giving our merits/demerits.

There are NO SECRET demerits. I have always notified the dancer if they received a demerit and will continue to do so. At times secret merits are given, and that is just to keep the girls working hard during practice! I will also warn them if they come close to a dangerous amount; I believe open and a lot of communication is the only way a successful program can be run.

Please feel free and ask me if you have any questions about this policy or how it works. Communication is the key! Thank you and I hope you all are enjoying your final days of dead week!

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Merits Given To...

Thank you to Janica, Sarah, and Aly for taking advantage of the merit opportunity this morning. You girls are awesome and Mrs. Milne was very impressed. Since you each stayed for 2 hours, you will each be awarded 2 merits! AWESOME JOB!

Monday, July 25, 2011

Restaurant.com Fundraiser

This is a great fundraiser opportunity! Please go to the given link and become a group member. Invite all of your friends to take part in our fundraiser!

Facebook has partnered with Restaurant.com to offer Restaurant.com's top selling $50 gift certificate to fundraising groups. Offers $50 Restaurant.com gift certificates for a $20 donation. The donor can use the certificate at any of more than 18,000 participating restaurants throughout the United States. In fact they can use choose two different $25 gift certificates if they'd like.

We will make $8 profit on every certificate purchased.

Click here to be directed to our fundraiser page on facebook. You can also be directed through our fundraiser tab at the top of our blog.

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Last Dead Week

Enjoy your week off! Take advantage of this break, it is your last big break you'll get for awhile!

Although I want you to have fun and relax, you NEED to be stretching everyday. I will evaluate during our next practice if I see improvement... so please just take a little bit of time a day to sit in your splits!!! (Sit and hold in your splits during commercials, then shake out, and switch during next commercials.)

Your 3 BIGGEST Homework assignments I want you to focus on this week are:

-stretching
-pirouettes
-al la secondes

Remember to review the dances over your break- don't forget all we've worked on!!!

HAVE AN AWESOME VACATION WEEK!!!!! :)

Merit Opportunity

Here is a great merit opportunity that I advise you girls to take part in. The school needs help from the cheerleaders, drill team, Key Club members, and NHS members on Wednesday July 27th to fold and stuff envelopes for registration. Mrs. Milne said they could use you starting at 8am in the office until whenever they get done on Wednesday.

This is a great service project and it would be great for you girls to show your support. Let's start early by building great relationships and school spirit!

*Many of you have demerits. I have only given out about 6 secret merits. I will inform you if you start to get dangerously close in demerit number. Although there is no one close as of now, many of you are already heading down that path. Demerits are not to be taken lightly; they are a serious punishment and can result to non-lettering, probation, or dismissal.

Demerits will continue to be given if the wrong practice wear is worn. Please review our constitution on what warrants receiving a demerit. Please understand the severity and take advantage of the merit opportunities.

With that said, I will not tolerate "building up merits" in order to slack off . If this isn't taken seriously and/or the constitution rules and standards aren't being upheld, that dancer will receive punishment.

I know we will NOT have a problem with this because you all our fantastic and wonderful!! :)

Please let me know if you have any questions. Thank you!

Home Football Games

We only have four home football games this year. Here are the dates:

August 26th (Fri): Home Football Game vs Park City
September 23rd (Fri): Home Football Game vs Morgan
October 13th (Thurs): Home Football Game vs Grantsville
October 19th (Wed): Home Football Game vs Ben Lomond

Please mark these on your calendars. We will be performing half time and they are mandatory. If you would like to see the entire Football Schedule (away games), click here.

Please check the Upcoming Events tab at the top our blog. This has listed all the important dates that needs to be on all your calendars. Also, don't forget to check our calendar tab!

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Parent Gear and Parent Meeting

We are having a parent meeting on August 3, 2011, at 7:00 p.m. at SHS.

We will be introducing our fabulous new co-coach, Chantal Lancaster, ordering parent gear, discussing Stansbury Days, and a couple of other miscellaneous items.

Excited to see you there! I've missed you all this summer :) Hope it's been great,

Karla

Lagooon. :)

Ladies going to Lagoon tomorrow, meet at the school at 10 a.m. :) bring a sack lunch to eat when we get there. Wear clothes that can get wet, (shirts that aren't see through when wet) and good shoes! :) you can wear whatever you want, but remember modest is hottest and we represent our team and our school! Bring money to get in, (about $45-50)- or if you already have your ticket bring that, and money for dinner ($10-15) I don't want any of you to starve or get dehydrated! Sarah and I are bringing bags if you would like to put your money, camera's, cell phones, ect. in them :) see you all tomorrow I'm super excited! :)

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Blue Shorts

We are ordering you another pair of black practice pants, so you will also need to turn in your blue shorts you wore today at practice tomorrow. You will end up having two pairs of black pants, and one pair of black shorts for practice.

Thanks for your understanding and support- black pants are just better for my eye to clean, and they will help eliminate bruises when military begins. (And you'll slap harder!) YAY for AWESOME black pants!!

Pants and Shoes

Remember to bring back your zebra shorts and your silver shorts to practice tomorrow.

Please keep your marceas nice, we will be wearing them for our character routine.

We will not be ordering tan gore boots anymore- we will just wear our black gore boots for most of our competition routines (we will probably wear black unitards with different tops for military and dance.)

Remember that it is your responsibility to have competition ready gore boots, so if your only gore boots are the ones we bought you for competition, you need to keep them nice or buy another pair. *We will do a shoe check a week before each competition. If yours is not appropriate, you will be held responsible to purchase new ones that week.

So, if you don't have to wear your new black gore boots and you have an old pair, wear your old pair!!! If enough of you want to order another pair and pay for it, we can place a big order through backstage. Please leave a comment if this is something you'd be interested in. ($38.95 ea)

Be doing your homework, and lets continue to have awesome practices!!

Homework :)

Stretch! (We NEED good flexibility :)
A al seconde turns,
Kicks,
Headstands :) Don't be afraid if your head peels, just means you are doing headstands enough :)
Leaps! Especially side :)

The more you practice at home, the better you will get! Love you all! :)

Monday, July 18, 2011

Each Practice

Remember for each practice you need to bring:

- black jazz pants
- waterbottle
- dance shoes

Thanks!!!

Make sure you study the dates/times of our Boot Camps. Also, make sure if you are not caught up with finances/assignments, that you get caught up immediately. If not, demerits will continue to be given per day late.

Today was a great practice- Erin, welcome back to the "dancing" life!!!

*You DO NOT need to bring tennis shoes/ hip hop shoes anymore to practice, just gore boots.

The Dance Centre

From Jen at the Dance Centre,

Hi Beautiful Stallionettes!
Thank you for expressing interest in the jazz technique class that I will be teaching at The Dance Centre this fall. I look forward to hopefully working with each of you on improving technique this year. You are so talented and I can't wait to see what you can do!
Here is our studio's schedule for the fall. Please note that the class that will be catered to your team will be held on Mondays from 2:30-4:00. We will focus on jazz technique, particularly on turns and leaps. If there are any particular moves that you would like to work on that are in your routines, please let me know and I will do my best to incorporate them in our class. Monthly tuition will be $50 for the 1.5 hour weekly class.
Please email me asap if you plan on attending this class so that we can register you and confirm a space in the class. Please note that we require a 6 student minimum to keep this class. Please feel free to email or call me with any questions. You can also contact the studio's owner Kathie Steinagel for more information on the classes, studio, tuition, etc.

Friday, July 15, 2011

Inspirational Quote 7/18 to 7/21

Here is the amazing quote Maddie found for this week. (Thanks Maddie!!)

"They will rise highest who strive for the highest place." ~Latin Proverb

This week really think about what you can do, and what you want to be able to do.Try your very hardest to get a single step closer to your goal, and you will already be on the path to greatness. Never give up, if you want something you have to work to get there. :)

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Official Changes In Boot Camp

I apologize for all the changes we've had lately. After working out kinks this week, I have the official changes. I believe that these changes will be best for our team and I think the girls will like it!!

Boot Camp, is August 6th and we will be learning Military. (Which I will be choreographing.) This means that we will hold our auditions for this piece on Friday, August 5th. The practice on Friday will be held from 6-8:30. You will learn a portion of the military piece and at the end of practice will be auditioning.

Boot Camp September 9th and 10th you will be learning our Character routine and our Dance routine. Trevor, who we are flying in from California, will now be choreographing both of these pieces. He is a fantastic contemporary, stylized Jazz choreographer so I can't WAIT to see what he does! This is his forte and I feel so much better about him choreographing both of these pieces. (We will get the best!)

We will NO LONGER be doing kick this year. I am pretty sure that kick will be mandatory next year, so we will save our costumes, music, ideas for next year.

Lastly, we will now be doing HIP HOP for competition! (I know you girls are so excited!) AND, to make it better, we are hiring Marc from Extravadance to choreograph it. He is from England, has been in the U.S. for 6 months, and is a world renowned hip hop choreographer! (So he is incredible!) Also, we have first dibs on him- we will be his very first Drill Team. (Thanks Chantal!) I do not have the dates yet for when he's coming, but plan on sometime in September or early October. I will try to get this finalized soon so we can get on the calendar.

I am so excited for the professional choreographers we are hiring; Trevor and Marc are amazing. (We are going to rock this year!) Also, military is probably my strongest forte, so everything is finally falling into place. By making these changes, we will have the best in every area, and we will have different choreographers making it so we get different styles.

Again, I apologize all the changes- we just want to do what is best for the team, and now I finally feel we are. Thanks so much!!

P.S. Please welcome Gabby back to our team- we are excited to have you back!

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Small Gym

I believe the small gym is open now, so plan on meeting in there in the morning. Thanks!

Reminders :)

Keep practicing at home, it really helps in the long run. Even if you are just going through things in your head it is better than not doing anything at all. We only want to move forward, and in order to do that we HAVE to put in the time and the effort. Keep stretching, just stretch when you are bored, (I know you all get bored sometimes we all do), or while you are watching a movie! You don't have to reserve time for stretching just do it while you do other things! (If you want to reserve time for stretching that isn't bad though!!) we have a small energy problem.. Energy isn't all in your face, but it really can start with your face, so practice making faces at yourself in the mirror while listening to our dance songs. (Great time to go through the dances in your head as well!) Try to keep hydrate through out the day, if you don't drink water and keep hyrdated you are setting yourself up to get dehydrated at practice before you even get there. Drinking water in practice is important but if you don't drink water all day as well you are already on the path of being dehydrated. Today's practice was a pretty good one! Keep up the good work! I love you cute girls! Remember "Be not afraid of growing slowly, be only afraid of standing still." :)

Alternates

Your original spot in a dance is your spot, if you get injured, or sick, an alternate will be put in your spot UNTIL you learn what you missed.  Even if you are AT practice when you are sick, if you sit out someone will be put in your spot. You still miss things when you are there if you sit out so it is only fair to put someone in your spot. If there is a performance the next day and you were sick the day before an alternate will perform in your spot unless you learn what you missed. Alternates can prove that they are working harder, and stay in as well.
If you are sick you are a temporary alternate.
If you are injured or gone you are a automatic alternate.
Just because you are an alternate for a while doesn't mean you can stop working hard. YOU have to PROVE that you want your spot back, or that you want a spot.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Dun Dunna Dun!!!

Announcing!!!
The Stansbury High School Stallionettes have WON

1ST PLACE

in the non-commercial category in the parade!

Not only did we win, but we will be receiving a prize of $200!
How great is that?!

I'd like to send a big shout out to Katie, Krista, Ken, and anyone else that helped put together the float for all their hard work, skills, and love for this team. You made this happen. Thank you so much for making our team stand out and represent our school well. We are so grateful for all you do.
Thank you Edwards Family!

Alternates

First of all, today was a FANTASTIC practice! All of you had so much energy and you worked so hard! Kudos to Janica for taking charge! (A lot of potential MVD's out there!)

I know you all have a lot of questions on how alternates work. Tomorrow morning, we will take some time to discuss it and hammer out any problems/questions. There are some changes that need to be made so it stays clear and fair for everyone, (I will discuss these changes tomorrow morning.) Jessica will take notes and post on the blog after so if anyone ever has questions, you can find the answer. Thanks!!!

Reminders!!

You need to turn in Technique money (which should have already been turned in) and Car wash fundraisor money TOMORROW. Don't forget to run through camp dance tonight so what we have gone over still looks good. We only want to move forward from here. Also, make sure you remember funhouse as well! Great job at practice today. I'm proud of you all! :)

Monday, July 11, 2011

Pirouettes

Here is another great video by Just for Kix demonstrating on how to do pirouettes. Everything she says in this video are all things we've talked about in practice. Look at her prep; her back foot isn't too far out, she is even/centered on both feet, and is in a deep plie. Her arms help propel her around and help her stay controlled. Abs are tight and she is drilling that foot into the floor, her passe is pulled up, connected and she is spotting.
Please be practicing these and your al la secondes at home! You will get these in doubles and triples- it just takes time, dedication, and effort. We have a lot of talent on our team, and every one of you have what it takes! We are AWESOME! Keep practicing and stretching at home, working hard at practice, and I know we will be fantastic this year! Go Stallionettes!

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Cafeteria

Because the dance studio and gym floors are being cleaned this week, we will be in the Cafeteria M-Thurs. Thanks!

Saturday, July 9, 2011

Hot Profit!

We ended up doing great at the Car Wash.

Today, we made $826.71. Taking out our supplies that we had to pay for, our total profit was
$703.53!

(+ all of your money selling tickets.. I only received money from a couple of you today. Please make sure you pay that to the finance office on Monday.)

Not to shabby, right?

Thank you parents for helping so much today. I am so grateful for your dedication and love for this team. Thank you thank you thank you! (We couldn't have done it without you!)

Everyone enjoy the rest of your weekend, drink lots of water, and I'll see you bright and early Monday morning. Get ready to set and clean our Camp Dance!

Friday, July 8, 2011

Inspirational Quote 7/11 to 7/14 :)

Sarah found us this awesome quote for this week. (Thanks Sarah!!!)  I think that it fits us perfectly, and hope that it can help inspire you through out this week.
 "Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still." ~ Chinese Proverb
Even if you feel like you aren't improving, you are! Its way better to grow slowly, then to be exactly the same forever. Remember this, this week. When practice gets hard, remind yourself of our quote and push through!
Love you girls! :)
(Ps. Kamie is this kinda what you wanted?)

Car Wash Clothing Changed

We had some concern on wearing and getting dirty our nice Stallionette shirts, (and I agree), so instead we will now be requiring the girls to wear old Stallionette shirts, school gear, or school colors. Please dress appropriately. You are no longer required to wear your Drill flipflops. Make sure you wear pants and shoes that you are ok getting dirty in.

Remember to bring all of your required items. See you at 8:30 am and get ready for a fun, busy day!

Reminders!

Remember to be to the car wash by 8:30 Sharp!! Don't be late. Try to pre-sell all the tickets you can. :)
Keep working on all the technique things we've been working on at home, and stretch, it will help you get better faster :)

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Assignments for Saturday

Here's the list of assignments for Saturday:

Case of water/bag of ice:
Kylie, Janica, Emily

24 cans of soda/bag of ice:
Katie, Erin, Hailey

100 box of otter pops (frozen):
Paige, Maddie, Sara

1 dz baked goods (individually wrapped):
Caitlyn, Emma, Olivia, Chloe, Veronica, Maggie, Megan, Aly, Jessica, Kendra

See you at 8:30 Saturday :)

Karla

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

It's....

Aly's Birthday!!! Happy Birthday! We love you!

Changes in Boot Camp

Important changes in Boot Camp!

For our 1st boot camp on August 5th and 6th, we will now be learning our Military piece AND our Dance piece. I will be choreographing both of these pieces. Because we are learning two pieces instead of one, the boot camp times will be Friday August 5th 6am-9am, then Saturday August 6th. We will break for lunch and for snacks on Saturday. More in depth information still to come. We will be auditioning for both pieces Monday, August 1st during practice. I am excited to be choreographing both of these pieces for our team!!

For "proof reading the routines" have now worries, I will still be asking outside dance teachers/coaches to come in and critique the dances and dancers. It will be great!

For our Boot Camp on September 9th and 10th, Trevor Lynskey has been hired to choreograph and teach our Character and Kick pieces. (Kick is not mandatory, but it is our extra routine this year.) We will hold auditions at an earlier time and date TBA.

Let me know if you have any questions. I wanted to announce these changes now so that everyone can fit them into your schedules. Thanks and see all of you on Saturday!

Things to remember!

Technique Money should have been turned in today! You need to have your receipt to Kamie tomorrow!
Remember to sell as many car wash tickets as you can! Pre-Selling helps a whole bunch in the long run!
Practice everything we have been working on in practice at home, and make sure to go over hip hop, and camp dance. :)

Parent Volunteer Saturday

Amy Rowley has volunteered to fill our last spot on Saturday.

Thanks everyone! See ya Saturday,

Karla

Car Wash Wear

We will be wearing our blue Stallionette t-shirts with jean pants, shorts, or capris with your flip flops!!! Wear your hair in a low poney tail, part from the heart! Be there at 8:30 am sharp and make sure you bring everything Karla stated. Thanks!

IMPORTANT FOR SATURDAY

TEAM MEMBERS:

PLEASE BE TO THE CAR WASH BY 8:30 ON SATURDAY TO SET UP

THANKS, LADIES! YOU ARE AWESOME!

Car Wash Details

Good morning, team!

We are scheduled for the car wash fundraiser this Saturday, July 9th at the WaterMaster Car Wash in Stansbury Park. It is located right behind the Maverik on SR-36. It will be held from 9:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. We will be detailing cars at the car wash. For $8.00 we will dry the exterior if they go through the car wash, vacuum the interior, wash windows, and Armor All tires. All supplies (Armor All, windex, paper towels, etc.) will be purchased by the team.

Team members:
* You are required to attend the entire fundraiser
* Bring $2.00 for your lunch (we will be getting pizza)
* Bring your own drinks/snacks/chair
* Don't forget sunscreen!!
* Please bring any extra old towels you have at home
* Each team member will be given 6 tickets to presale

Sign up sheet for water/soda; popsicles; and baked goods will be done at practice tomorrow morning. Make sure if you are bringing a dozen baked goods to sell they are each individually wrapped.

Parents:
* Anyone with tables that could be set up for bake sale please bring Saturday morning
* Volunteer sign ups are as follows:
9:00-10:30: Krista and Ruth
10:30-12:00: DeAnn and Stacey
12:00-1:30: Gloria and ???
1:30-3:00 Tara and Karla
3:00-4:00: Danielle and Teresa
* One parent still needed from 12:00-1:30 to fill that time slot - please let me know if you are available

Please ask everyone you know and come in contact with to come support the Stallionettes!

Let me know if you have any questions,

Thanks,

Karla

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Alternates and Other Info

-First, I just want to say how great our practice was today! Keep stretching everyday and working hard and we are going to be FANTASTIC!

-As discussed in practice today, if your are gone on vacation or home sick from practice, you will be placed as an automatic alternate in the routine we are practicing. (An alternate will be placed in your spot.) It is your job to learn what you missed and show me that you deserve that spot back.

-If you sit out during practice for any reason, an alternate will get placed in your spot and you will become an automatic alternate. Again, you can earn it back by working hard and learning what was missed while sitting.
-If you are injured or sick, you are now required to write a 1 page paper about things you learned from observing on combos/skills/technique. If you do bullets on each line, you are required to write on the front and back of your paper, making it a 2 page paper. The other girls earn their points by dancing and working hard, you will earn your points by taking notes and learning from the sides.
-Ladies, make sure you keep your makeup in a cool, safe place and that you leave it in the bag. We don't want anything lost!
-Remember that your $10 technique money is due BY Wednesday, receipts to me by Thursday.
- There will be no practice on Friday. Plan on every week being Monday-Thursday unless otherwise stated.
-Our carwash is this Saturday! More information to come!
-Lastly remember you can wear your gore boots to practice in, black or tan. Please give your sizes to Chantal tomorrow- we will be ordering competition tan gore boots.

Thanks! (Jessica, fill in anything else that was said during practice today- thanks!)

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Last Minute Details

Happy 4th of July tomorrow!

Parade is tomorrow! Remember to meet at 7:45am at our assigned area. Make sure you bring and wear everything needed. (Demerits will be given if forgotten!) If you decide to wear jean shorts, it must be longer than your fingertips; NO EXCEPTIONS! You can choose to either wear jean shorts, capris, or pants.

I failed to mention that the designated drop off area for participants is at the Tooele cemetery.

Also, to clarify, we are just doing the Tooele parade. When Stansbury Days comes, we will do that as well, (but we will be dancing!)

Lastly, I just wanted to give a BIG SHOUT OUT to Katie, her family, and any other members or parents that helped with the parade. We are so grateful for all your hard work. Thanks, (in advance), for making this day great!

See you all tomorrow!