Churchill Dance and Drill Director Maddie Cole loves Churchill High School.
She has ever since she was on the dance team as a student there.
“I enjoyed high school. I feel like everyone here always had a place to be. We all had different strengths, whether it was on the dance program, like me, a volleyball player, or a person on the debate team, like all those people came together. It just felt like there was always an environment of respect for each other’s activities. And we all enjoyed supporting each other and just showed up to school because we loved what we did and had so much fun doing it.”
Cole graduated from Churchill in 2014, and when the Dance Director position at Churchill opened up this year, Cole leaped at the opportunity to return.
She fondly remembers her teachers and dance instructors—and wants to provide current students with the same lessons they taught her.
She remembers how they made her feel, how they seemed to truly care and the excitement they had for their subjects and teaching.
“I try to do that myself. Coaching is another level. It’s not simply teaching a solution. You’re teaching students how to deal with their problems and create the solution themselves. For instance, they love to dance but don’t always know how to win or lose. It’s almost like you’re tricking them into thinking that they’re just learning about dance when, in reality, they’re learning about life skills.”
She knows her students are learning those life skills because she was in their dance shoes in that exact same studio. Dancing at Churchill set her up for success. It taught her how to discipline herself, how to hold herself accountable and how to deal with people that she might not get along with on a daily basis. It also taught her how to work for something.
And now she’s passing all that on to the next generation and loving it.
“I know that I’m in the right place because I get so excited to see my kids every day. I love the kids. I know it sounds cliché, but our ability to impact those kids for the rest of their lives is why I love teaching so much.”
