By Mackenzie Corcoran and Nick Klann
Varsity dance coach and PE teacher, Angela Fuqua, is retiring at the end of this year after 30 years of teaching. This is the end of her coaching career and now the dance team needs a new head coach. If Fuqua’s got to choose, her top picks are Ryanne Marks and Megan Koif.
They are both working in the district and were former dancers of hers. For legal reasons, the district has to open her position up to anyone, but if she could have hopes for the position, it’s that she would want them to keep the traditions of the team alive.
“If I had to say something, I hope it is someone that will carry on our traditions, and we’ve worked really hard to build up our skillset and so I’m hoping it will be a person who will lead the team on to a higher skill set,” Fuqua said.
After 30 years of teaching, she feels very good about her retirement, and that it is a good time to move on. When asked about her reasons for retiring, she said that it was because she wanted to be able to do things while she is still young enough.
“So, I feel really great about this time in my life, that I’m still young enough to be able to do active things out there and I don’t want to wait until I’m too old and I won’t be able to do my travel and try some new adventures,” Fuqua said.
Hannah Zabka, a member of the dance team, describes Fuqua as “motivated, caring and lovable.” She said that it will take some time to get used to Fuqua being gone, but the team will continue on. For her, it will be hard to imagine the team without Fuqua.
“She’s been there for both my freshman and sophomore year,” Zabka said. “And even though that’s only two years, I don’t even know what’s going to happen after this.”
Fuqua will not go forgotten, though.
“She always said leave a place better than you found it, and I think she actually did that with the dance team,” Marks said.
She talked about loving all of the opportunities that teaching and coaching have brought her and being able to see students grow. For the last dance Fuqua had to create for her dance pe, she decided to choose a song very special to her for her students to dance to.
Fuqua said, “One thing I’m doing differently for dance PE is I picked a song that is kind of my favorite song and I made a dance to it,” Fuqua said. “It’s kind of like my motto in life. It’s the song ‘I Hope You Dance,’ and it kind of talks about living your life to the fullest, either sitting it out or dancing, and I would say I would want every student to dance their life through and find their passion.”