In this spotlight we will recognize the River Valley High School Dance Team who is coached by Frankie Deeds. Frankie's assistant is Chrissa Deeds.
The team consists of 18 dancers:
- Beau Todd - Team Captain - Senior
- Kylie Kleespies - Team Captain - Senior
- Danika Dewitt - Team Captain - Senior
- Avree Hansen - Team Captain - Junior
- Maddi Huisinga - Junior
- Emily Forch - Junior
- Alison Shever - Junior
- Aubrey Putzier - Junior
- Gracie Volkert - Junior
- Klaudia Pry - Sophomore
- Jacklyn Goettsch - Sophomore
- Maddie Thomas - Sophomore
- Olivia Wenger - Sophomore
- Frankie Allender - Sophomore
- Mikaylee Edwards - Sophomore
- Jackie Todd - Sophomore
- Alison Hill - Freshman
- Teddy Berning- Freshman
Frankie believes the purpose of the team is to entertain and express yourself through dance moves. She says some of their duties are performing at football and basketball games, performing at State Dance Competition in Des Moines, they participate in competitions when they are available and they also put on an annual littles dance clinic.
Frankie believes the team is successful because the team keeps growing in numbers every year and it is a great group of girls who know how to work together and work hard.
The team has fun by putting on a dance clinic with the littles from the elementary, going to state in Des Moines every year (always hitting the mall is a must). They have also traveled to Dordt College to learn a state routine.
When asked what are some advantages of being on her team Frankie said, "You get to come and show off your dance moves and nobody judges you, we have lots of laughs and memories are made and they all have ideas we put into our routines."
Frankie is proud of her team because of how hard all of the girls work, if they change something at the last minute they adapt well and go with the flow and pull it off. They don't complain about the time they start or end practice or how many hours they put in when it gets close to State. She is proud of these girls just for being an awesome group of girls that work great together and how some girls have grown to be leaders and step up to help others or just take the lead.
Some of the team's achievements this year are that they won light routine at State when they thought that they had no placing and watching the girl's faces was priceless. They got lots of Division 1 ratings on routines taken to State.
Frankie shared, "They are an awesome group of girls that can always make your smile. They work hard at practice but still know how to make it fun and memorable. They all work hard and encourage each other and help other teammates when needed. We have a great group of team captains that lead our team with confidence."
Frankie, thank you for all that you do!