After a history of losing its CHSAA status as a cheerleading team, the EHS dance team is working to get it back. Steve Longwell and Jay Tapia, athletic director, and principal, respectively, are trying to restore dance team’s sanction in the Colorado High School Activities Association. The school took the dance team’s sanction eight years ago due to two factors: low attendance and high coach turnover. At the time just three girls were involved with cheerleading as opposed to the previous year’s 20 people, and a high turnover rate of coaches saw four coaches in three years. CHSAA is an organization that monitors and regulates activities in school.

Not all activities are athletic, however. An example is the music department, the choirs and bands, which are also regulated by CHSAA.

To be sanctioned, a school must address ten questions. which vary from cost of program to community interest. The questions will be used to evaluate the status of the dance team as well as student and community interest, and the administration will determine if the organization is eligible for a sanction. The school board and the superintendent, completely independent of the dance team, ultimately have the final say in whether the team is sanctioned.

Dance team member Marian Montes (19) said, “It’s cool because it is an opportunity for us to compete”. Expense is the most difficult question to, however, and of the issue, Longwell said, “The biggest thing I have to be concerned about is how we’ll fund the program because if the dance team is going to become a sport, the district is going to have to pay a coach, pay them
to run the program, and pay for the equipment”. Dance team sponsor Brittany Turnbull’s hope is “that we can get everyone on board with the Dance team, to convince everyone that the Dance team is something that they should do.”