Teacher Appreciation Week is one of my favorite weeks because it allows me to tell my favorite director, teacher and dancer how much she means to me. Mrs. Boyer is such an amazing person and without her encouragement and sensational words, I wouldn’t be where I am right now.

As some people know, she is not going to be director for the Dazzlers next year. The first thing that I thought of when I heard this news was all the inspiring talks that she has given either me personally or to the team. Then I started crying and so did the rest of the Dazzlers. She told us not to think of her leaving as a bad thing but to welcome the new director with open arms, as well as her saying that she will stick around and come to every game, cheering us on from the sidelines.

I first met her in 8th grade in her dance class. I joined the class for fun and I didn’t think that taking that class would let me experience becoming a Dazzler and finding out my passion in dance. Whenever the whole team would be together for holidays or right before we would go on the dance floor for any performance, Mrs. Boyer would always say “Give it your all because it could be the last performance with these girls.” We were never guaranteed a performance, so we would all go out there, give it our all, and do our best to make Mrs. Boyer proud.

One of my favorite memories is whenever we were about to leave the school for competition and she told us that she considers us her kids. She would wake up and think of us, whether we got some counts of a dance down or if everyone had a headpiece for our novelty dance. Whatever it was, she made me feel like I finally had a drill team family and the love she gave us is something I will cherish forever.

She has actually helped me through some personal problems and her talks mean everything to me. It’s going to be a hard adjustment not having her in practices or her praying with us before a game but I truly will not forget the wonderful times we have had with her. I love you Mrs. Boyer and thank you for everything you have taught me and the team.