School clubs are a way for students to find new interests and express their creativity. For swing club members, in addition to meeting new people, getting a great workout, and learning a generations-old style of dance, they get a second family.
The swing club meets every thursday at lunch and for at least three hours on the weekends to talk about upcoming events and rehearse and choreograph dances designed to look like they are from the early 1900s. This may seem like a lot of time and work to put in for a school activity, but students who are a part of the swing club love the tight-knit bond they have created with their teammates and think every moment with their fellow members is worth all of the sweat they put in.
Senior and swing club leader Billy Lash said, “My favorite part of swing club is being able to look around during any meeting, rehearsal, or performance and smile and laugh with some of my best friends. The swing club truly is my family.”
Math teacher Laura Robeck has been the club’s advisor for over 10 years and sees a lot of importance and uniqueness in the club.
Robeck said, “Swing club is amazing because I am able to share an older style of dance from the 1930s and 1940s that was passed down to me when I was in swing club as a teen, and it continues on from generation to generation.”
Robeck helps the members with creating choreography, but often lets the teens take the lead themselves and perform the moves that they want to do. However, like the members, she has realized that the club has more to it than just dance.
Robeck said, “The members have made a huge focus of the club to be on team-building. It is more than dance; it is social. They have holiday parties and are all very close to one another, which is very nice to see.”
While some members, like Lash, joined swing club at the beginning of high school because older siblings who had been a part of it influenced them to, students in all grades can join at any time and are often surprised by the friendships that evolve from the club.
Sophomore Dana Reynolds said, “I did not know the majority of the swing club members last year, and now I can call them my best friends. The bonds I have made by performing, rehearsing, and hanging out with all of the members just in this one year are incredible.”
Each year, the swing club choreographs a number for the Heritage Fair, but this year, they are excited to introduce a new gig to put on their platform.
Lash said, “We can not wait to perform at the end-of-year dance show with the intermediate dance team. Usually, heritage fair is the main event, but it is cool that we were able to coordinate with the dance program this year.”
Before the swing club’s debut to the annual dance show’s stage, the members will be hard at work in rehearsals while keeping the foundation of their group—teamwork—stronger than ever.
Lash said, “Performing swing in front of the whole school is one thing, but being able to look around to all of my teammates after and say, ‘I can not believe we just did that,’ and feel such a rush of happiness is another.”
