Copperettes win multiple camp awards, four named All-American

Special to Leader-Press 

Four All-American Dancers, Grand Champion Team, Sapphire Award for Team Evaluation…the list of accolades that the Copperas Cove High School Copperettes danced away with at the recent American Dance/Drill Team summer camp seems endless.  
The three-day camp consisted of learning intermediate and advanced dance level routines. The Copperettes, comprised of dancers from different skill levels, were forced to come together to dance as a unified team. Their efforts were rewarded when the team received the Gussie Nell Davis Outstanding Team of the Day Award for most team unity, improvement, and outstanding work ethic. 
“We were all pretty excited about this, and as their director, I’m always ecstatic to see their hard work pay off,” said CCHS dance teacher Antonia Parrish-Brooks.  
By the end of the second day of camp, the team had learned five dances in two days and were struggling to remember all the material they had been taught. 
“It really came down to them working together to continue progressing as a team,” Parrish-Brooks said. “It helped them tremendously to end each day with team building so they knew that they could rely on each other during particularly difficult routine sessions or practices.” 
The final day consisted of All-American Dancer try-outs with four Copperettes selected and two additional Copperettes receiving honorable mention. Amari Snead was chosen as a part of  the All-American Dance Company and Sariah Hunter was named Outstanding Performer.
“I can confidently say that, by the end of evaluations, the team had reached most of the goals they set for themselves,” Parrish-Brooks said. “This is a strong group of dancers who love what they do. They push themselves and can be competitive like any other sport, but they are very supportive of each other and other groups. They want to be the best they possible can and they are constantly working and evolving each day to meet their goals.”
Copperette Rory Kersey attended camp for the first time this year.
“For the most part, it was stressful but it was also very fun,” the CCHS sophomore said. “The techniques I learned were incredible. I didn’t even know some of them existed. This camp made me push myself and become a better dancer along with a better person.”