Music playing, girls dancing, and the crowd cheering are only a few of the things that surround the Honey Bears when they perform. This type of environment will be what the new members will be adjusting to when the next school year approaches.

The following students made the 2019-2020 Honey Bears Drill Team:

Aniken Borel, Emily White, Ashley Umbenhaur, Kadence Williams, Sydney Peet, Shelby Smith, Caylee Aleman, Allie Jo Allbritton, Emily Faust, Madeline Finn, Kylie Huff, Makenzie Meulemans, Abby Sadler, Annabel Stephenson, Abbigail Thomas, Haylee Wheeler, Kate Abernathy, Christina Baker, Emily Boram, Breahna Burrows, Samantha De La Cruz, Jadyn Ihle, Yuliana Newell

Freshman Emily Boram is one of the many new girls who made next year’s squad.

“I decided to join Honey Bears because I have always dreamed of doing it since I was a little kid,” Boram said. “My favorite thing about dancing is that I can just have fun. I dance so that I can just relax.”

Boram’s goals are to meet new people and make superstar for one of the games. While she is working with the other new dancers, she looks forward in to getting to know them more.

“I have had dance experience for about eight years,” Boram said. “I also hope to continue dancing and to be on this team throughout high school.”

Boram said she is very excited, but a little nervous about joining. She believes that working with others on this team will help her want to learn more things and have new experiences. Boram thinks that her first year joining will go great and she hopes to make friendships along the way.

Sophomore Kate Abernathy is another new member of the team, and she said she tried out for the team because she wanted a new experience.

“I wanted to try something new, make more friends, and it seemed really fun to try,” Abernathy said. “I’m so excited to perform at football games, basketball games, pep rallies, and so many more events. I might be nervous at first, but I know it will be really fun.”

Abernathy believes that next year will be really fun, because she is in something new and hopes to make new friendships and bonds. She also believes that working with new people and learning new things will help her with communicating with people and going outside of her comfort zone.

“For my experience with dancing, I have been doing it for seven years at Ingram’s School of Dance,” Abernathy said. “I’m a sophomore and I just made the team, so I hope to keep being on the team for about two years until I graduate.”

Abernathy’s favorite thing about dancing is being able to express herself while doing so. She loves dancing because it’s really fun to her. Her goals for joining the team are to meet new people, make friends, enjoy what she’s doing, have fun, and learn new skills.

Samantha De La Cruz is another new member of the team and said she joined for the purpose of being mentally and physically challenged.

“I also really enjoy dancing or just in general watching lyrical and hip-hop,” she said.

De La Cruz hopes that the new year goes great with this new team and that she makes new bonds and gets closer to get to know everyone better.

“I have had some dance experience before, which is when I took it at Horizons for about one year or so,” De La Cruz said. “Being on the Honey Bear team is something I would like to continue to do throughout the rest of high school also.”

De La Cruz has the goals of trying to do her best and have fun in the process when she joins. The thing she is looking forward to while working with new people, is if she ever feels like she is doing something wrong or messing up, someone will step in and lead her to be the better version that she aspires to be.

“My favorite part while dancing is the way I connect to the rhythm, the beat of the music, and the rush of energy I get,” De La Cruz said.

De La Cruz said she is excited to perform at events, even though she’s a little nervous right now. She thinks that while performing she may feel anxious at first, but as she gets into it she’ll know that it’s like she’s meant to be there and that the music will calm and guide her.

“I think that working with new people and learning new things will be a very interesting thing,” De La Cruz said. “But, I know it will help with memory and also being patient with myself and others.”