Emma!

Today's post is in honor of my sweet Emma Lou!  I stand in awe of her and her courage and strength of character and her happy personality.  Last night one of the boys did something hysterical and her hearty laugh just makes me smile!  She has wanted to start teaching creative dance to children here in Worland since we moved here.  School has been very busy for her and she hasn't had a chance to really develop that idea until now.

There were many obstacles in Emma's way.  The main one was time during school with marching band the first half of the school year and cheerleading the second half.   With that obstacle out of the way the next one was where was she going to have this class?  She had to have hard wood floors, no carpet.  She needed a place big enough to dance in.  She needed a place that could be closed off so that there weren't lots of people watching and distracting the young children.  The elementary school gyms were a no, the community center was really expensive to rent as was the health club in town.

Last fall I had started going to Yoga with a new friend of mine, Holly Mickelson.  It was held in the cool old church that had been turned into "The School of Holistic Healing."  Now I really don't know what they teach there, but they do have awesome Yoga classes.  The space in what used to be the chapel is really incredible.  The original hard wood floors are beautiful and the stained glass windows add so much ambiance.  I asked the Yoga teacher after class one day about the building.  She told me she rents the space from the owner and it's very reasonable.  She gave me the owner's card.

Emma called the owner last night all on her own.  She explained what she wanted to do.  The owner was incredibly kind and excited for Emma.  She will take 20% of whatever Emma receives from the students each month, plus $100 a year for insurance purposes.  She will advertise for her as well.  Emma already has parents with toddlers excited to take dance!  She will start a summer class on Saturday June 6th which will meet every Saturday for 6 weeks.  She is hoping to fill 3 classes and each class will be an hour.  Then if people like it she will start a school year session, like BYU children's dance does, and go the entire school year with a concert at the end!  She is charging $30 for the 6 week sessions per child.  The ages will be from 3 years old up to 9 years old.

I'm so proud of her for organizing all this on her own!  She is going to do a great job and I'm sure the kids will love her!  What an awesome way to earn some money this summer!

One of the reasons she is so motivated to do this is that she needs to earn money for a Washington DC trip that her US History class will be going on next year in May.  She also is VERY interested in doing a Rotary International Exchange the summer after she graduates.  The Rotary Club her does a lot of exchange student programs and Emma really wants to participate.  She would love to go to Sweden or even Africa!  Wow, I did not have the confidence or courage that she has when I was 16!

So here is my cheer for Emma---GOOOOOO EMMMMAAAA!