Audio Transcript
Hey everybody; hi.
Hey, it’s Ruth and I’m here at our Silver Creek Clogging Dance and Movement Center in Silverton, Oregon. And, hey, today we are at episode three of What’s Happening at Silver Creek Clogging. And this is for the week of August 24th.
And, before I get into it, I just want to say thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, to everyone who responded to our request for feedback about how things are going at the studio (with regards to COVID) and how we might be able to help you and support you going forward as we’re all nagging navigating this super crazy time. I just really appreciate all of your feedback it really means a lot to us. Super helpful.
Actually, very validating, also, because I heard a lot of… The feedback that I got a lot of was, “Everything’s going really great. We feel super comfortable and safe dancing in the studio. We really appreciated the continuity that you provided at the outset of the COVID.” So, all of that really, really amazing to hear.
And one of the reasons it’s amazing to hear is because we have worked so hard to just keep ahead of everything that’s been going on so that we could keep continuity. We didn’t, we haven’t had to take a break for COVID-related reasons and we have been able to, you know, get into the studio and keep it clean and disinfected the whole… since we’ve been able to dance in the studio and it’s just really been… It’s really nice to hear that all of our hard work, all of our efforts, have meant something to you guys. Because that’s why we’re doing it, is to keep you guys happy and dancing, so yeah, and safe while we’re dancing.
And, in fact you know I do want to mention that, of course, we are doing a lot of the things that we’re doing in the studio to be compliant with the federal and state guidance. But, our primary goal is to keep our dancers and our instructors and our whole community happy and healthy. We want to maintain that happy and healthy community of our whole community; not just our student studio community because what we do here in the studio, it filters around to our entire community.
So we’re really grateful to you guys for your commitment in supporting what we’ve been doing. We know that it’s an effort, extra effort, for all of us and we just really appreciate your commitment to the safety and health of our dancers, our instructors, and our entire community as well. So, thank you so, so much.
One thing I do want to mention about the feedback that we got was; we had asked, you know, whether changing our studio class schedule would be helpful (especially for parents with school-aged children now that school’s online) and whether that would be helpful. And we did hear that things are great how they are, no need to change. So, at this point we’re not intending to make changes to the class schedule. If there are any changes it’ll just be one-offs for a particular student or a particular class or something. And if those changes need to be made in the future, we will get in touch with just the students that might be impacted by it. But, at this point all systems go. Loving it.
And, we’re going to keep being diligent in keeping ahead of the information, making sure that we’re continuing to do the right things for the safety and health of our dancers and our instructors and community. So any changes that might occur to the COVID protocol, of course, we will definitely let you know.
So, thank you. Thank you again so much for all of the feedback. Very, very helpful and, again, super validating that all of our hard work is paying off for you guys. Love it.
So, we’ll get right into it all the information, happenings, announcements.
First, I would like to say yay, yay, yay. Congratulations to Teresa. Teresa is our practicer of the month for July. And I’m a little bit behind the schedule of announcing it, but I’m announcing it nonetheless. Teresa is always a super consistent practicer and well-deserved, Teresa.
For those of you who don’t know about our practicer of the month, I just want to explain a little bit that, in our TeacherZone system (for the student portal), every student has a practice timer. So when they log into their dashboard they can… When they start practicing; they’ll log into their TeacherZone dashboard; they’ll hit start on the practice timer; they’ll practice, practice, practice, practice; and then when they’re done practicing they will hit stop on the practice timer. And that’s how we’re tracking the number of days within a given month that a student practices.
So, whoever, whichever student tracks you know (by the TeacherZone reporting system) has practiced the most number of days in the month, that student is our practicer of the month.
So, right now what we’re doing is, we’re tracking days practiced because the very first thing of practice – is to make it a regular part of your daily routine. So, that’s what we’re doing. Just trying to help our students support our students through this practice timer contest, I guess, yeah help support you guys in making practice a regular part of your daily schedule. And then, once it’s a regular part of your daily schedule, then all of the other stuff can come. Like, we’ll talk in class about practice tips and quality of practice and all of that stuff. But, first thing is the habit; getting it part of your routine.
So, congratulations to Teresa for being our practicer of the month for July. Yay.
Next, I do want to mention, we do have our Fantastic Fivers recognition. So, we started this last year and this recognition is for all of the students who, in the studio, who have learned all five all-around solos in their skill level.
So, it’s actually a pretty amazing thing for people to do. It takes effort outside of class and goal setting; you know, checking them off one at a time, getting all the details right (because there’s a lot of detail in the all-around solos for the competition) and, yeah, so we know that it’s an extra effort for the students and we want to recognize them for that extra effort, so we started our Fantastic Fivers recognition.
This year we’re adding to that recognition. So, usually… last year students got their name posted on the Fantastic Fivers board, they also get a pin – a button – with their Fantastic Fiver recognition, and this year, oh, and a Facebook post about recognizing them. So that’s a good, that’s a fun thing too.
And then, this year what we’re doing is, everyone who learns all five all-around solos in their skill level will have their name put into the hat for a drawing. And we will draw one name from out of everyone who learned all five solos and that person will get one free competition registration to – entry to – the Portland competition in February.
Yeah so, you got to just learn them by, like, the middle of December is, when our registration deadline comes. So you just got to make sure that you learn them before then. Yeah, so that’s the deal. Super awesome.
Some students are almost done, so that’s exciting. And it is actually really a worthy achievement worth celebrating. So, we are going to celebrate those students who do that.
Upcoming, I just want to make sure that you know to keep the following dates on your calendar:
September 4th, coming right up, is our first Friday open studio. That’ll be here, at the studio, outside. We won’t be having inside open studio for a little while. So, of course weather dependent, we will be dancing outside for open studio first Friday in September; September 4th.
And then, the very following week, we will have… our brand new red studio t-shirts will arrive in classes, in studio. And, also that same week we will have brand new students arriving in studio. Yeah, so that’s super exciting.
The last Saturday of September, September 26th, we’ll have our theater recital. This is the recital that was postponed from the beginning of June.
And, the week of September 28th (so that very next week right after that theater recital) is crazy socks and red studio t-shirt. Yeah, we’ll wear crazy socks and a red studio t-shirt to class. It’ll be super fun.
And then, please keep on your calendars the first weekend in November. For November 7th, that’s Autumnfest, it’s the solo and duet competition in Salt Lake City; of course, COVID dependent. But, please keep that on your calendar. And we’re planning on solos, everybody who’s learned all five solos, showing them off at that Autumnfest. It’s a really great chance to just get a first run at those solos, too, and then continue to perfect from there.
So, looking forward to those things coming up.
Also, we would please like to ask you, our very wonderful studio families whom we love so much. We know that you love us too. And we are asking that you please share your love for us with your friends and family. Let your friends and family know how much you love dancing at Silver Creek Clogging. Let them know that registration is currently open, new students start that week of September 7th, and, yeah, we just would really ask you guys to spread the love.
Share your experiences with your family and friends about how much you love dancing with Silver Creek Clogging. It would really mean a lot to us. And, thank you so much for doing that. We really appreciate it.
It is, it really does mean a lot for us that you guys love us and that you tell your friends and family how much you love us. So, thank you for doing that, we really appreciate that.
And then, you know what, just thank you. Thank you for being part of Silver Creek Clogging. We just love you guys. We think you’re awesome. We cannot tell you enough how much we appreciate you and how much you mean to us and how much we just really love having you as part of our studio community. And, yeah, so that’s our update for the week.
And, we love you and until we chat again remember… happy dancing.