Captain Jordyn Hanson, 12
Hanson has been dancing for five years. She enjoys bonding with her teammates and becoming a leader.
“Dance means everything to me,” Hanson said. “Dance has got me through a lot of hard stuff throughout my life so when I moved here and joined the dance team I learned more about myself. I felt like I grew a lot as a person to others and myself.”
She strives to lead the Charmers through a spectacular season and leave a good example for the captains after her.
”I want to leave as the person who never gives up,” Hanson said. “When I leave, I want to know the team has confidence. I’m a very confident person and I love the spot I’m in because I get to help people drag every bit of confidence out of them and let it shine.”
She shared that some of the other leadership qualities she has learned through her years as a Charmer include managing time as she’s juggled schoolwork, studying, and Charmer events. She has also learned how to better communicate, she said.
“It has also taught me to take accountability for stuff like mistakes, as well as being able to quickly adapt to whenever plans change.
Hanson said she has learned from her personal Charmer experience, but also learned through her older sisters’ experience on the team.
“She always took the time to help me with things and made me feel less shy by letting me hang out with her friends,” Hanson said. “They all welcomed me with kindness and helped me grow into the person I am today. I’m so grateful for that support and for the love they showed me.
As a senior, Hanson has been thinking about her future and what this means to her dance career. After high school, she wants to continue to dance in college and hopefully in the future become a choreographer and have her own studio.
1st Lieutenant Keisi Herrera, 12
Keisi has been a Charmer for three years and has been in leadership roles for two years. She enjoys competition season and getting the opportunity to lead the team with the 63rd officer line.
“I’m extremely proud of our leadership team,” Herrera said. “Everyone fits perfectly into their positions, and their effort and hard work is very respected, admired and appreciated.”
Not only does Herrera love leading the team with the other officers, but she also enjoys getting to compete at competitions.
“Since it’s a team contest year, and it’s my last one, I can already see all the effort and love that everyone is putting into those competition dances,” she said. “Also I’m extremely excited to compete with my team and hopefully win.”
Another fact about Keisi is that she went from rookie to officer. She began her Charmer journey her sophomore year and became an officer her junior year.
“Going from a rookie to an officer was a big change in responsibility and expectations – the transition was very complicated,” she said. “But it helped me grow as a dancer and as a leader.
“Little by little I learned how to embrace my new position on the team, and how to become what my team needed me to be,” Herrera continued.
Herrera, in her time on the Charmers, has learned adaptability and leadership, and now is considering continuing her dance journey.
“I would love to dance in college, especially on a competition team,” she said. “Dance is one of the most important parts of my life and I know that I’m always going to go back to dancing no matter what because it makes me happy.”
Senior Lieutenant Brooke Bailey
Brooke has always had a passion for dance that has progressed as she’s gotten older. She continues to grow as a dancer and a leader.
“I became a Charmer my freshman year and since then I’ve made many friendships, grown as a dancer, and become a lieutenant,” Bailey said.
Brooke describes herself a passionate and determined leader. She aspires to lead her team and her squad to success for the year, but she never forgets why she decided to become a Charmer.
“I tried out for the team because I love to dance, then I decided to try out for officer because I wanted to give back to the program that’s given me so much,” she said.
Brooke loves being supportive of her teammates and being a leader they can always count on. She also has her own support team off the field: Her family.
“They’ve been there for every performance and encourage me to be better every day,” Bailey said.
Brooke has big plans for the future but has not come to a conclusion on whether or not to continue her dance journey.
“As of right now, I don’t know my future plans regarding dance but it is such a huge part of my life and I would love to continue dancing after high school,” Bailey said.
Senior Lieutenant Bree Rodriguez
Bree has been a Charmer all four years of high school. Charmers has led her to become a leader and has led her to be more confident, she said.
“My Charmer experience has been amazing and I am definitely going to miss being a Charmer after this year,” she said. “My freshman year I was very shy with my dancing and I wanted to blend in, however, the longer I danced the more I came out of my shell and really expressed my emotions through dance.”
Rodriguez has gotten the opportunity to express herself and emotions through dance at various competitions throughout her Charmer experience. She is most excited to experience nationals with the team and the other officers.
“At nationals, I get the most euphoric feeling while I am dancing with my team – I never want the feeling to end,” she said. She continued, describing the competition dances are high energy with lots of passion.
Rodriguez has loved all of the opportunities Charmers has given her but has decided to switch it up for her future dance journey.
“My personal plan for dancing in the future is that I would like to do studio dance after high school,” she said. “Unfortunately I will not be continuing with the drill team style in dance but I am going to love starting a new chapter with dance.”
Senior Lieutenant Lindsey Wakefield
Lindsey has been in the Charmer program since the sixth grade as a Chey-Anne then a Charmer. She has gotten to experience being a Line Member, a Line Leader and now an officer and has enjoyed every moment.
“My Charmer experience has been long, exhausting and pushed me way beyond what I ever thought I could be or could do, but it’s so rewarding and I wouldn’t trade it for the world,” Wakefield said. “It has taught me so much about myself and gone way beyond dancing.”
She enjoys leading her teammates to success and getting to be a role model to others.
“I have absolutely loved being a lieutenant,” she said. “I get to help lead an amazing team full of different personalities and people.
Charmers not only gave Lindsey the opportunity to help others, but also has given her the opportunity to learn what hard work is about.
“My experience on the team has affected me as a person by showing me the true value of hard work,” Wakefield said. “I spent my first three years on the team working extremely hard and there were times it didn’t seem to pay off, but eventually it all came together.”
Lindsey has decided she wants to continue to continue her dance journey at Baylor University.