Youth
www.SanTanSun.com
February 21 - March 6, 2015
25
Mother, daughter share Super Bowl memories BY SCOTT SHUMAKER
In 1996, Bianca Caryl, then a recent ASU graduate, performed in the Super Bowl XXX halftime show, which concluded with Diana Ross being whisked out of the stadium in a helicopter. Nineteen years later, Caryl watched at Super Bowl XLIX as Caryl’s daughter, Bella Gutierrez, 15, and the rest of the Desert Vista High School dance team swirl around another pop icon - Katy Perry. A Desert Vista dance teacher and Chandler resident, Caryl drew on her own Super Bowl performance and experience to prepare her dancers for the routine, which featured Perry riding a mechanical lion and flying on a comet inside the University of Phoenix stadium during this year’s halftime show. “I tried to give them an idea of what that would be like and tried to make sure that they stayed focused and in the moment, and didn’t just look up, see all these people and blank out,” she says. The dance team was selected after Caryl submitted an audition video of the team to the Super Bowl XLIX casting committee. After Desert Vista’s squad was selected, Caryl had one day to get the team members’ measurements and legal agreements together. In the final weeks before the big game, the Desert Vista dance team traveled to Goodyear and Glendale for nightly four-hour rehearsals. It was hard to keep the intense rehearsal schedule a secret—especially when Perry showed up for the last few practice sessions. Friends would ask Gutierrez to do things, but “I couldn’t tell them,” says Gutierrez. Gutierrez says she wasn’t able to meet Perry, but during breaks the star would talk to the dancers through their personal headsets. “She’d ask where people were from and get people pumped up,” Gutierrez
says. After halftime, word spread fast about the Desert Vista dancers’ involvement. Gutierrez sent an Instagram photo from inside the stadium. “It’s been kind of crazy,” Gutierrez says. “I knew it was kind of a big deal, but I didn’t think that people would react in the way that they have. We’ve had nonstop media attention, and administrators and teachers congratulating the students. The kids have gotten a huge positive reaction.” Gutierrez says she will never forget the moments before the show when everything was ready and the dancers were waiting for the signal to begin the performance. “When we were waiting to run in and we had our radio sets in...it was the longest 20 minutes of my life,” she says. Caryl says her daughter’s experience was much more high-tech than hers. The Desert Vista dancers each carried flashing orbs that were individually controlled by computers to enhance their effect in the show. The sheer thrill of performing before millions, however, has not changed much since 1996, according to mother and daughter. “It’s nothing like I’ve ever done before...I prefer doing more difficult choreography, but I didn’t care because it was the Super Bowl,” says Gutierrez. Caryl seconds her daughter’s sentiments. “You know that it’s a big moment, that there’s millions of people watching on TV, but that’s what dancers and performers live for,” Caryl says. Scott Shumaker is a freelancer for the SanTan Sun News. He can be reached at news@santansun.com.
Kylie Fast discusses her job with Ray of Light Christian Preschool students. Submitted photo
Kylie Fast, left, and Jenae Ortiz let kids try on dental uniforms during a visit to Ray of Light Christian Preschool. Submitted photo
Celebrating Dental Health Month As part of Dental Health Month in February, the students at Ray of Light Christian Preschool received a lesson on how to take care of their teeth from hygienists Kylie Fast and Jenae Ortiz, who visited the school. The preschool offers programs for 3-year-old, 4-year-old and pre-kindergarten students from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Monday through Friday. Enrollment for the Fall 2015-2016 school year is underway and prospective families are encouraged to contact the school to schedule a private tour. For information, call Cristina Haney, director, at (480) 963-6105, ext. 211, or visit www. rayoflightpreschool.org
Chandler resident Andrea Yocum creates fun and challenging ways to engage her chemistry and physics students at Summit School of Ahwatukee where she teaches sixth through eighth graders. Submitted photo
Chandler resident wins ‘Excellence in Teaching’ award BY LYNETTE CARRINGTON
Chandler resident Andrea Yocum has taught and inspired students at Summit School of Ahwatukee since 2002. Recently, Yocum was acknowledged for those efforts when she won the “Gold Gator, Excellence in Teaching Award” from Xavier College Preparatory High School in Phoenix. The prize recognizes junior high school teachers who have been inspirational to Xavier’s freshman students. A middle school science teacher, Yocum is a three-time recipient of the award, having received the accolade in 2012 and 2009. “Every year, Xavier asks its incoming freshman to nominate a middle school teacher who encouraged them in some way,” says Yocum. Xavier freshman Edel Healy nominated Yocum for the recent award, but Edel was unavailable for comment for this story. Yocum has taught eighth-grade student Ethan Shanker since Ethan was in the sixth grade at Summit School, a private school that teaches preschoolers through eighth graders. “Mrs. Yocum manages to basically make science fun,” Ethan says. “She combines interactive teaching with intelligence exercises. It’s just really exciting to be in her class. “We’ve done numerous activities this year. We’ve experimented with chemistry a lot. We’ve done projects with physics. Last year we dissected sheep hearts and cow eyeballs. It was all very fun.” As a result of Yocum’s instruction and approach, Ethan is interested in chemistry. “I’m not sure about physics as much,” Ethan explains. “I’d like to pursue chemistry if anything. It comes very easy for me.” Ethan would like to attend Columbia University after he graduates from high school. Ethan says he doesn’t have any specific career plans. “If I pursue science, Mrs. Yocum would be a great asset in that,” Ethan says. Yocum is in her eighth year teaching sixth through eighth grade science and physics, and sixth grade social studies at Summit School.
“That’s one of the great things about my position is that I get to see these kids grow up for three years and develop a relationship with them that way,” Yocum explains. “I get to know them on a different level than a lot of other teachers who just get to see them for one year.” Each year there are science projects that stand out. Yocum says. Ethan just finished a physics project in which he and other students built roller coasters. “They pretty much filled my entire classroom with all these roller coasters,” says Yocum. “They really liked it because it’s fun for them and they built it.” As a teacher, she likes that she can walk around the classroom and hear her students discussing concepts like momentum and inertia in ways they can manipulate and understand. Yocum wants her students to have fun while learning concepts in a hands-on way. “It’s not just about the concepts, but it’s about the act of doing science,” Yocum says. “I try to get them doing hands-on applications, experimentation or analysis as much as I can and fortunately they love it. It’s different than a lot of the rest of their day. They can get up and are doing a lab, and using a lot of different equipment that they would never use, so that gets them excited, too.” Yocum has received other notable accolades. In 2009 she was selected as one of 272 teachers from 19 countries to participate in the Honeywell Space Academy for Educators at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center. She is taking courses through the National Math and Science Initiative and was selected to be a member of the University of Arizona Water Education Cohort. She also helped as a science educational consultant for an exhibit recently at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art. Lynette Carrington is a freelancer for the SanTan Sun News. She can be reached at lynette@santansun.com.