The Howler Issue 1 | Page 35

no one knew how to dance. But one other factor that was shown was that they were not committed to being in the team by the act of not going to practices. That was when Ms. Lopez decided to make strict rules on being committed to the team. If someone was not going to practices, they would be kicked off the team. “Teaching them to trust the process was a challenge but once they got it, it was all downhill from there.” (Ms. Lopez) achieved in the State of Arizona and the competition has been going on for about 30 years. “That team deserved it. They were dead last 2 years prior, then worked their butts off to take 2nd place the year before. They wanted first and they got it. It was an amazing thing to watch.” (Ms. Lopez) Later in 2016, they won another state And downhill they went indeed. At first they were actually one of the worst dance teams to begin with. They came in dead last with not a lot of points. Soon, they came into second place but they all knew that was not good enough for them. Then in 2015, all of that changed when they competed in state and almost got a perfect score of 299/300. This was the best score any school has ever championship with a score of 182/300. During their practice, they do a variety of exercises to keep themselves into shape like stretching, run laps inside the room and do conditioning like push ups, sit ups, planks and jumping jacks. They also work on new techniques that can be used. One of the hardest things that Ms. Lopez taught them was the “stomp-clap” motion. They basically had to stomp their feet on the ground to every beat and had to clap in between each stomp. Besides that, they also work on new choreography Ms. Lopez teaches them. After she shows them everything, then comes the part where they put everything together to make one cohesive dance. The one thing that is most important of all of these things is that everybody needs to practice, practice and practice. That is what happens inside the dance rooms during practice time. The coach that runs The Wolf PAC and everything that revolves around them is Kristi Lopez or most commonly known as Ms. Lopez or informally as “Mom.” She is the coach that teaches them their championship winning routines for their showcases, assemblies, and of