Statement Of Purpose: Gliding With The Stars

When I started volunteering at Utica Dance in the fall of 2014, I was just as nervous as the newly enrolled dancers in the class I was about to teach. Even though I was only the Volunteer Assistant to the Dance Instructor, I felt as if a heavy responsibility was placed upon me. I oversaw almost twelve children ranging from seven to thirteen who all wanted desperately to become professional dancers, many of which are still pursuing that dream. On top of that, all these children had begged their parents to sign them up for an expensive, intensive fundamental ballet program; then dragged their parents to buy tights and leotards; then dragged them into the waiting room of a dance

I have participated in many different activities and sports over the years, but the one that has stuck with me the most is dance. I started dancing when I was only seven years old, and went on to join a competitive dance team for four years. Dancing has given me many opportunities, such as being part of a team, performing, competing, and the chance to express myself through movement. Participating in dance for so many years gave me the chance to volunteer as an assistant to some of the younger dancers at my dance school, which allowed me to gain leadership skills such as communication and commitment, as well gain teaching experience. At my middle school last year, I was a co-president of the student council, and my job was to lead weekly meetings with the younger students at my school, also contributing to my leadership background.

For the past 5 years I have been volunteering at the yearly Robin Cone Memorial Classic Gymnastics Meet. I have been a time keeper for some of the different events because the gymnastics only have a certain amount of time to warm up and also some of the events have a time limit. I have also helped unwrap and prepare the medals and awards for the gymnasts as well as helped in the hospitality area which contains food and snacks for the coaches, judges, and volunteers. I helped restock the drinks and ice as well as the snacks. The Robin Cone Gymnastics Meet is in honor of Robin Cone, a guidance counselor at JP Steven who died of breast cancer and also to raise money and awareness for breast cancer treatment and research. Over the past 5 years I have given about 46 hours of my time to this cause.

This event happens once a year and takes place at our high school stadium. Special needs kids come from all around my community to compete in events that best suit their physical or intellectual disabilities. It is truly astounding to see a whole community come together to support these kids. At this past year's Olympics I volunteered as a peer buddy and my responsibilities included walking my buddy, Luke, to his different events and making sure he was having a good time. Luke won first place in the ball throw and second place in the 100 meter dash. I loved seeing how happy he was when he was handed his ribbons and I was so fortunate to have been able to spend the day with

I am on my school dance team, the Pacesetters. We are known nationwide for our consecutive national wins, and our slightly eccentric spring show. Having this reputation didn’t come without hard work and sacrifices. Pacesetters along with the other extra-curricular activities I have participated in, taught me principles that will help me achieve my long term goals.

This program identifies both physical activity and the creative and performing art endeavors. In addition to that, the students have the opportunity to parade their accomplishments through expressions and presentations (Reichert-Montiel, 2015). To show support, the school board consistently attend the Chance to Dance performances which sends a powerful message of support to all participants. Additionally, the school board gives a yearly allocation to safeguard facilitation between the district and Murphy’s Foundation (Reichert-Montiel,

I chose Special Olympics as my nonprofit organization because I think more people need to know more about it. The Special Olympics is the world's largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, providing year-round training and competitions to 5.7 million athletes and Unified Sports partners in 172 countries. Special Olympics competitions are held every day, all around the world—including local, national and regional competitions, adding up to more than 100,000 events a year. There are concern about children with intellectual disabilities having very little opportunity to participate in athletic events. The history of the Special Olympics started in 1969. It was a backyard summer camp when children could

Every year the students of my high school host the Wyoming County Special Olympics- a day of fun, a day of laughter. As a sophomore I was very hesitant to volunteer for this activity. Some of the teachers and other students convinced me this would be a worthwhile project. We let the handicapped students put on our school uniforms, we taught them to throw and catch, and did everything possible to entertain them. In that one day, I received more blessings through the eyes of those children than in all of the other days of the year.

I had the opportunity to complete my service-learning hours with the North Carolina Special Olympics and the Golden Living Center. The North Carolina Special Olympics provides youth and young adults with disabilities the opportunity to train and play in sporting tournaments. Without fundraising events, the North Carolina Special Olympics would not be able to provide free the athletes with equipment, uniforms, training facilities, housing, and meals. It also spreads awareness of this incredible non-profit. I completed 12 service learning hours volunteering at two Special Olympics fundraising events: softball tournament and motorcycle run. At the softball tournament I participated in various activities throughout the day such as registering the

This year two of my community service activities went towards setting up for chapel and participating in a fundraiser for Upper Nyack Elementary School. Both of my events took place in the Bowman Gymnasium; however, the chapel set up took place on Monday November 14th for an hour, and the fundraiser event took place on Sunday, November 20th for five hours and fifteen minutes. I didn’t dedicate too much time helping set up chapel in the gym, so I’m going to write about my other community service opportunity. The Harlem Wizards, who are also known for their slogan “Tricks, Hoops and Alley Hoops”, sponsored the fundraiser. The group of Harlem Wizards was called the “Swoop Team.” They’re a group of six men who put on a world-class, high-flying and interactive basketball show for people all over the world. They were playing against some of the teachers from the school.

The last of the charities covered in this paper is Pennsylvania Ballet. Conceived in 1963, this ballet company has been “at the forefront of dance in America and is widely regarded as one of the premier ballet companies in the nation.”( Charity

I had a chance to get involved in the Global Abilities – Philadelphia Rec Fest ‘s sixth annual. It is held at the Carousel House Recreation Center on September 24, 2016. Kate Miller is the one who mainly in charge of the volunteers and the overall set up of the event. This is a creation festival that runs by Global Abilities Foundation to help hundreds of people of all ages and both able-bodied and disabled individuals to become more physically active, and educate the public about the needs of persons with disabilities while raising money for disability awareness. It demonstrated numerous different recreation activities include wheelchair sports, dancing, martial art, scuba diving, rock climbing, gardening and much more. They have many organizations

I have been an avid dancer since the age of three, and I have not hesitated to combine my passions of dance and volunteer work. I was the captain of my high school dance team and led the annual summer dance camp for young girls aged four to fourteen. By teaching these girls proper technique and choreography, I am constantly

During my freshman in college I ventured off into doing my own work. I first landed my teaching opportunities at the Salvation Army Kroc Center and the Historical Attucks Theater in Norfolk, VA. I worked with both children and adults and I've also had the pleasure to work with children at risk and children with physical and mental disabilities. From this teaching experience I began to structure teaching my teaching philosophy. I was moved by the unique individual qualities and community that we devolved together in these spaces. I was able to recognize the importance of individuality in dance and how

All throughout my life, I have danced and when I turned 8 I joined the competition team at my studio. I had so many great experiences doing that so I joined the dance team at my school my junior year. My sophomore year I joined HOSA, a health occupation club, and competed at state for 2 years, then making it to internationals my senior year for my groups PSA. In HOSA I had many volunteer opportunities, such as helping run multiple blood drives and donating too. I volunteered my mornings before school to sell coffee to pay for our trip to state all three years in the club. Through HOSA I also volunteered to help at a marathon and sell carnations for valentine’s day. MY senior year became a public relations officer for HOSA and really enjoyed running it and help lead the group. I participated in Mathletes my senior year to make more friends and learn more math, then by the end of the year I was a captain for the JV team.