Hi DDN teachers. I recently found out that a fairly talented high school dance team will be in need of a coach next year. I love teaching dance, but its been very bittersweet or love/hate. I can't stand some of my classes (kids are so unruly and lazy), but I just love dancing again, I like having access to a studio to dance my heart out when no one is there. And I love that once a year when I get to put my heart on a stage at recital. I also occasionally like it when my students have mental breakthroughs and realize that I'm not a complete idiot.

Does anyone have experience with coaching a school team? I am reluctant to put an application in. But this may be a completely new and exciting venture.

Any help? Stories? Anyone transitioned from school team to studio or vice versa?

I just recently began coaching at a local high school. I also teach two nights a week at the studio I've been with for 3 years, since it's opening. I assisted a team when I was in college and was lucky enough to catch the gig when I observed the head coach for an education class. Anyways, I was very nervous when I received the coaching job this year for multiple reasons. Despite the reasons that make me nervous as a dancer (only 2 of my girls have ever taken dance classes, I got hired the week school began and they didn't go to camp, etc.) it has been very rewarding so far! (most of) The girls have been very eager to learn, and in the two months I've been with them, I've started to see a great change! My only setback is that I am not employed as a teacher within the building - although I am a substitute for the school district. It can be hard not being in the building everyday to get little administrative jobs done - but I stay in close contact with the athletic director (he probably thinks I'm a little annoying!). Also, I am blessed with an amazing asst. coach. She isn't a dancer, but in her 10 years of teaching she has assisted drill teams, pom aquad, etc., which is very useful experience! Really, I think it's a great experience to have - especially if you feel that you have something to provide to the team. If you say these girls already have a great reputation, they probably have great work ethics and that will make transitioning easier for you. I say put an application in and you'll probably get a chance to speak with the athletic director then. Ask lots of questions in your interview and do what you are driven to do! Good luck! Coaching can be VERY rewarding!

I too was a studio teacher first, then began coaching at a high school also (same as above poster, wasn't at the school all day, just for the dance team part). It has its ups and downs, but for the most part I really enjoyed it. The kids really want to be there, so you don't have to deal with the lazy part as much. I've found that most of them are really excited to learn new things, especially if they don't go to an outside studio also. And there is usually a discipline policy put in place, so thats never really a problem because no one wants to get kicked off.

The only bad things for me were some unruly parents who wanted to try to run the team (and some administrators who tried to let them). Our principal actually resigned after a big ordeal with a crazy mom :/ I've seen problems with parents happen alot in private schools and public schools in wealthier neighborhoods. I think you should atleast apply for the job! Its a very rewarding job, I still talk to a lot of the girls I coached even though I don't work with them anymore.

I also coach a hs dance team and I teach at two studios as well. I would have to say go for it! The good thing about a hs team is that for the most part they reeeally want to dance and improve. My team has been working hard and growing a lot, its been a great experience for me. There are a lot of administrative things that can be tedious and annoying but it was so worth it seeing my girls dance at the homecoming game...in the pouring rain! they were such champs!
Good luck!

I say go for it! You never know until you try, and you will always learn something! I had assisted for 5+ years until I started teaching at a studio in college. After college, I moved back to my home town to take a full time office job, and had to leave the studio. I started coaching a local team that was small, not very technical, and had never had a full time adult dancer coach. This is my third year coach at the school and I am in love with my team and my program. Our progress has been slow, but steady, and my team is SO enthusiastic. I am lucky to have such a great group of young women, and the school is so supportive. I have always wanted to coach a high school team that was really competitive, so at first I was disappointed that I basically had to start from scratch with this group. But now that I have spent 2 years building them up, I am looking forward to going to comp this year and placing! I think we can do it, so basically I'm saying go for it, and no matter what you get, you can do it, and it will be rewarding if you put your heart into it!!!!

Good luck!

Thanks everyone, I am going to pray about it and see where it leads me. It has been on my heart for a while, so that seems like a sign to me. Does anyone have tips for a dance resume?

try out this website... it looks useful! When I applied at the high school, I gave them the same resume I was turning into the school districts for regualar teaching jobs - to show my dance AND teaching experience. If you would like me to send you a copy, to see the format I used I can do that, just let me know!

Your dance resume should list performance highlights, and teaching experience. You can include other jobs if they are relevant to the position you're applying for, and it should take the format of a traditional resume as opposed to a bio. Good luck!

I agree that your dance resume should highlight your own personal dance experience, such as performances and training - but for a position like a team coach should also show when you've had coaching/judging experience as a Dance Instructor, competition coach, competition judge, etc. I would do a 40/60 or 30/70 split as far as content on the resume is concerned. (If you don't have room to list everything.)

I helped to coach a HS team at the studio I worked at in college and then coached a different team in the town where I owned my first studio. I was paid to help with the first team, but decided to volunteer to run the second team so I could show the school what they were missing out on. They were two totally different experiences, so I'll try to paraphrase them and what I learned in as short paragraphs as possible!

Team #1) Co-coached them when I was in college as the studio owner of the place I worked at was the coach and they practiced at our studio, I just helped to run practices and helped out with tryouts/some choreo, etc. The team was known in the area and established. All girls had some sort of prior dance background and took the team seriously as a performance and competitive team. It was a rewarding but draining experience and seemed to run fairly smoothly because of it being established as a school activity, etc. The girls on this team seemed to be very "catty" though as a result of it's long standing establishment, and it got a bit old after a while.

Team #2) I volunteered to coach a NEW dance team at the HS that was in the town of my dance studio. It was an uphill battle... but definitely something was worth doing. Since it was a new program, we had to constantly push the administration to let us wear proper costumes, dance shoes, etc. and even get performance times. The girls on the team had minimal dance training if at all - but we had over 50 girls show up for the tryouts, which I deemed as a success because it showed the need for a dance team at the school. The remaining 12 girls that ended up on the team weren't friends prior to being on the team, but I do think it helped to give them some "camaraderie" that wasn't there before. And I didn't witness the cattiness (almost downright vindictiveness) that was such a pain with the established team. I enjoyed this team alot more, but then again - I was also able to mold them from scratch... so that might be why. They were appreciative and I think that goes a long way to make it worth your time.

It sounds like your position will be set up differently, as potentially a FT paid position? If so, I'm not sure how that effects the structure, but you'll definitely have the establishment of the programs on your side. The only thing you may have to nip in the bud are returning dancers overly present sense of "entitlement", and making sure they aren't vindictive towards new members on the team.

Best of luck to you!

Also list any certifications you have in supervising children and/or first aid CPR. Our state board of education requires that I be a certified pupil supervisor, which entails becoming certified in basic first aid & CPR/AED, getting FBI & BCI reports, and filling out an application and paying the state like 25 bucks. If you are first aid or CPR certified, definitely list it. (that way the school knows they wont have to go through the hassle of making sure you get certified, and they won't have to worry about you asking for them to pay for it! I was lucky and my school offered to reimburse me for all that...which was great, because the FBI/BCI reports cost me $130!)

Good luck, and best wishes with whatever decision you make