UDA.com - Universal Dance AssociationAmerican School Spirit Award Countdown

American School Spirit Awards

The countdown to the 2008 American School Spirit Award winner is over! Read below to learn more about the top 3 dance team programs in the country! Congratulations to our winners!

And the 2008 American School Spirit Award Winner is............

Bryant High School
Bryant, AR
Laura Wooten
GPA: 3.25

The Bryant High School dance team's mission is to form a close partnership with family and community so as to motivate, challenge, and teach our members to become the best dancers, students, teammates, and citizens that they can be.

Coach Laura Wooten and the 18 young ladies that make up the BHS dance team have excelled in so many areas this year. They've done so much that it is impossible to write about them all in this article! This year alone the team has participated in 74 total spirit events. The team hosts a 7th and 8th grade dance camp, performs at all football and basketball games including the annual Salt Bowl, and supports all athletics by participating in Swarmfest - an annual event to kick off all athletic activities. The team also takes time to support the baseball team, soccer teams, and even the band.

This team also takes time out of their busy schedules to give back to their community. This season the team has completed over 440 total community service hours. There were a few community service events that really stood out as unique. One specific cause that they contributed almost 100 hours to is the Saline County Humane Society Shot Clinic. The team helped the local humane society provide quick and easy vaccination of pets that might have otherwise gone untreated. With the assistance of the team, over 600 animals were vaccinated during this event.

The team also gave a large amount of time to the Civitan Shoppe. The Civitan organization is devoted to improving the lives of children and adults with devleopmental disabilities. The BHS dance team volunteer at the Civitan Shoppe assembling displays of merchandise; preparing donated merchandise for resell, cleaning the shop and arrranging the racks of clothing by size and type. Joe Black, Civitan president, had this to say about the help of the Bryant Dancers

"Thank you so much for the incredible job you ladies did Saturday. Sissy Dodd, Assistant Store manager, called Saturday afternnon to tell me how hard everyone had worked and how great the store looked. She was right. Early this morning before the store opened I stopped by, and it's never looked better. Thank you."

On top of all of this the team is 6-time Arkansas State Champions, and last year ranked 11th in hip hop and 13th in pom at the National Dance Team Championship. Congratulations again to the Bryant High School Dance Team for being named the 2008 American School Spirit Award Winners!

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE VARSITY.COM INTERVIEW WITH BRYANT HIGH!

The Second Place winner is...

Southmoore High School
Moore, OK
Laura Walker
GPA: 3.36

The mission of the Southmoore High School Pom Squad is to create a positive impact on their school, community, and peers. Southmoore High School first opened its' doors to students on August 14, 2008. The SHS pom squad began their very first season with no uniforms, no chants, no school song, and zero traditions.

However, this team has worked diligently to build the spirit program at their school. This past summer they racked up numerous awards, including the team leadership award, at the University of Oklahoma Dance Camp. This Fall they participated in the Oklahoma State Pom and Dance Team Championship where many team members won soloist awards and the team placed 3rd in jazz. As far as community service goes, these ladies are ready to show their city what they are all about. They participated as cheerleaders in the Race For the Cure. They adopted an elementary feeder school and made frequent visits throughout the year. The team also adopted a street as a part of the Adopt a Street program in Moore, and they clean their street on a regular basis. The team was also very involved with the Salvation Army and the Special Olympics. The team also hosted a themed "Under The Sea" carnival/Trick-or-Treat extravaganza for the children in their local community.

On top of all of that, they cheer and dance at football and basketball games and show an outstanding amount of support to the sports teams. Roy Smith, the principal at Southmoore, says that "The Southmoore Pom Squad has taken the driver's seat in starting the traditions of our high school. They have proven to me in such a short time that they are a group of young ladies who are academically minded, community-service oriented, and willing to do 'whatever it takes' to make thier high school one of the best in the state and the nation."

The Third Place winner is...

West Fargo High School
West Fargo, North Dakota
Jordan Jost
GPA: 3.06

West Fargo’s key mission is to promote pride, honor and to bring a high level of positive energy to every event they attend. They do this by getting involved in a variety of spirit raising activities along with volunteering for many community services like Family Literacy Night, Girl Scouts and Project Linus.

One of West Fargo’s biggest hits this year was for Project Linus, which distributes blankets to underprivileged infants. For this project the dancers made 18 blankets and donated them to the North Dakota Chapter of Project Linus. The dancers said, “It was fun and rewarding for them to imagine the comfort the blankets will bring to children and babies in our community in their time of need.”

To build school spirit the West Fargo dancers host a dance show featuring all dance groups. “We are proud of how they have presented themselves as respectful, caring and positive role models, which has made them a very successful team,” said Activities Director, Curt Jones.

Here are some of the Judge's Favorites:

Highest GPA:

The highest GPA of 3.76 is awarded to Horizon High School in Scottsdale, AZ. They have 15 members who represent their dance team. Way to go Horizon, congratulations! Keep up the great work!!

Good Service Award:

UDA’s good service award is given to the team from Sherwood High School in Sandy Spring, MD. These young ladies have raised $4000 for cancer search by organizing a Relay for Life Team, collected hundreds of toys for the Olney Civic Association’ s Annual Toy Drive, distributed holiday food baskets and prepared chili casseroles for their local homeless shelter. With these great efforts, not only do they provide support to those in need but they also demonstrate great character and commitment to their fellow students and community!

School Letter of Recommendation:

This is awarded to Cedar Heights Junior High in Port Orchard, WA. From their school Principle, Mr. Andrew Cain. “They emulate ideals by performing with excellence, excelling as scholars and living with character. Simply stated this team understands that excellence is an ideal that should be exhibited in all aspects of life”.

Great Mission Statement:

This is awarded to Saint Benedict at Auburndale Catholic High School in Cordova, TN. Their mission statement reads: Inspire students through promotion of school spirit before, during and after school events. Support all athletes and all sports teams by giving players and coaches encouragement and recognition before, during, after athletic events. Maintain academic excellence by being a student athlete: a student first and an athlete second. Give unselfishly of our time to our community and represent Saint Benedict at Auburndale with class and dignity.

Best Community Letter of Recommendation:

Bismarck High School Demonettes from Bismarck, ND had the best community letter of recommendation. The letter came from the mayor, John Warford. In his words, “For 46 years, the Bismarck High Demonettes have been an excellent ambassador for our state and community.”

Community Awareness Award:

This one goes to Eastern High School in Louisville, KY. These girls know the true meaning of serving their community. They provided over 150 hours of community service over the past year. They volunteered and donated items to Eastern Area Community Ministries; participated in the annual Adopt-a-Child Charity activity; and held a dance clinic for underprivileged children.

Best Charity Effort:

Shawnee High School in Shawnee, OK received the American School Spirit Award in 2007. These girls continue to have a positive impact on their community with their charity efforts. They participated in the Salvation Army can drive for Thanksgiving and a clothing and food drive for Christmas.

Beat Team Statement:

The best team statement came from Newton Middle School in Hacienda Heights, CA. The girls think very highly of their coach, Ms. Ramos. From their team: “Our coach is someone who does more than teach. Ms. Ramos is not only our teacher she is our best supporter and is like our second mom. She encourages us to work hard; she makes us want to do better. She believes in us and makes us believe in ourselves. Ms. Ramos makes us leaders and proud of who we are!”

Here are all of the teams who have been recognized for Outstanding Achievement. This is listed in no particular order. The top three will be picked from this list!

Bismark High School - Bismarck, ND

Bryant High School - Bryant, AR

Cedar Heights Junior High School - Port Orchard, WA

Eastern High School - Louisville, KY

Horizon High School - Scottsdale, AZ

Newton Middle School - Hacienda Heights, CA

Shawnee High School - Shawnee, OK

Sherwood High School - Sandy Spring, MD

Southmoore High School - Moore, OK

St. Benedict at Auburndale - Cordova, TN

West Fargo High School - West Fargo, ND