FORNEY, Texas (Forney Independent School District) — The Forney ISD Warren Middle School dance team, the StarSteppers recently competed at the American Dance/Drill Team Nationals in Arlington, Texas on Saturday, March 27 and were named the Junior High National Champions. It was the first time the squad had received the top honor.
In addition, the StarSteppers also received first place in all five dance competitions including Pom, Prop, Novelty, Lyrical and Jazz. The team also finished in 10th place in Best of the Best competition, beating out 34 high school teams. The squad finished the competition as the highest-ranking middle school team.
Several individuals on the squad also won top honors. Soloist Alyson Edwards was named Middle School Champion and Macie Norvell was named 1st runner-up in the solo competition.
“It has been such an honor to work with these young ladies,” said Warren Middle School StarSteppers Dance Director Amanda Garcia. “This is the hardest working group of girls I know of and they deserve all of the recognition and awards they’ve earned. It has been a fantastic year and I can’t wait to see what they accomplish in their future.”
The Warren Middle School StarSteppers dance squad, only in its third year of existence, has won awards at several competitions this year. In February, at a competition held at Lake Ridge High School in Mansfield, Texas, the squad received numerous team and solo awards including Junior High Grand Champions, Best in Lyrical, Best in Prop, Best in Pom, Best in Novelty, Best in Jazz, the Originality/Creativity Applause Award for Novelty, the Supreme Award for Novelty, the Supreme Award for Prop, the Sweepstakes and the Judges Award. Edwards again was named the champion in the solo competition and Norvell and Makayla Escochea earned runners-up recognition.
The squad also competed at a competition held at North Forney High School in March and won several awards there as well. The StarSteppers took First Place, were named the Best of the Best and Junior High Grand Champions. The squad also took home the Supreme Award for Pom, Supreme Award for Novelty, Supreme Award for Prop, Best in Pom, Best in Prop, Best in Novelty, Best in Jazz and Best in Lyrical. The team won the Entertainment and Crowd Appeal Applause Award for Novelty as well as the Sweepstakes and the Judges Award. Norvell also received a runner-up honor for her solo.
