West Newsmagazine 11-15-17

18 I SCHOOLS I
November 15, 2017
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The Marquette Dazzlers
Marquette High’s newest dance team
dazzles sports fans, closes social gap
Life’s more fun when you can
write your own soundtrack.
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DF West News 11 1 15 22 17
This feels like home.®
A SPECTRUM RETIREMENT COMMUNITY
Jo Anne, 80
By BONNIE KRUEGER
The Marquette High Dazzlers dance team
has been busy impressing sports audiences
at football and soccer halftime performances
this fall. Born out of the desire to
bridge the social gap between classmates
of all abilities, the team features nine students
with special needs and 19 Marquette
Mystique dancers.
The team’s formation was a collective
effort between SSD paraprofessional Janet
Sansone and Kathy Larocco, whose daughter
Lizzy is a Mystique dancer.
“This is actually an idea that was sparked
back in October 2016, but didn’t really
kick off with the Mystique members until
this past June,” Sansone explained. “We
needed to secure funding through Mystique
parents and work on performance scheduling,
which included a special homecoming
pep rally performance.
“My vision was for kids with special
needs to meet with the general education
population. We wanted the special needs
kids to have a place to socialize and form
relationships. It has done that spectacularly.”
Lizzy, a junior, has been dancing with
Mystique her entire high school career, but
this dance team adds a new dimension to
her dance experience.
“I love it,” Lizzy said. “It’s so nice to see
the direct difference we’re making. We are
forming new connections and we look forward
to it every week.”
The Dazzlers, which include both junior
varsity and varsity Mystique squad members,
practice each Wednesday. One or
two varsity dancers and one junior varsity
dancer partner with each new dance buddy.
Lauren is Lizzy’s buddy.
Marquette freshman Colton represents
the smaller percentage of male Dazzler
dancers. His buddy is Sarah, who is a
senior this year.
“I like to dance and I like to perform,”
Colton shared. “Sarah helps me dance.”
But Sarah said Colton has hidden talents.
“He is very good at ‘the roll’ dance move.
And he talks about how much fun he has
and encourages the other guys so they
don’t think it’s a girly thing to be part of our
team.” Sarah said. “Most of all, though, he
comes up with good team building games.”
The team building began in June with
social activities to foster trust, rapport and
genuine friendships. An important piece of
the team is forming ongoing relationships
that are equally strong inside and outside of
dance practices and performances.
Senior Maggie Chiszmarich co-captains
the Dazzlers with junior Sadie Eggman.
They are responsible for the program and
choreographing the routines. For the fall
sports season, the Dazzlers performed the
same 90-second routine during all halftime
shows.
“When I heard about the program, I
wanted to do it right away. I’m grateful for
this experience my senior year,” Chiszmarich
said. “They enrich my life and hopefully,
I enrich theirs.”
If proof is evident by smiles, then the
answer is yes, it’s mutually beneficial. The
delight on the faces of Dazzler members
is ever apparent and has spread from the
Marquette gyms and playing fields to the
high school hallways.
“The kids are having a wonderful time
and blossoming socially. It’s wonderful to
see the growth,” Chiszmarich said of her
dance buddies. “Initially, we didn’t know
their technical abilities, so we plan to make
the next routine more rigorous [for the basketball
season]. We also now know which
dance moves they really like and the kind
of music they like, too.”
Eggman said, “It’s exciting to see how
the program is working. We are giving
students who wouldn’t normally have a
chance to be involved in this way to be like
the other kids. They have a chance to feel
special.”
The Dazzlers will start performing
during the halftime shows at junior varsity
basketball games after Thanksgiving.