{"id":20903,"date":"2019-05-24T16:21:01","date_gmt":"2019-05-24T22:21:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/boys-girls-clubs-of-metro-denver.local\/?p=20903"},"modified":"2019-05-24T16:21:30","modified_gmt":"2019-05-24T22:21:30","slug":"her-passion-is-dance-and-helping-others","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bgcmd.org\/es\/about\/news\/her-passion-is-dance-and-helping-others\/","title":{"rendered":"Su Pasi\u00f3n es la Danza... y Ayudar a los Dem\u00e1s"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rachael likes to tell the story of when she was so small she fit in the palm of her father\u2019s hand. Born premature, Rachael faced some physical challenges early on. But you\u2019d never know that now.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rachael discovered her passion for dance in middle school. When she was offered a chance to teach dance to other kids at the Vickers Boys & Girls Club, Rachael saw a way to improve upon her own instructors.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI would go to dance classes and the teachers would just say the terms and how to move your legs,\u201d she said. \u201cThey didn\u2019t even ask us if we had a good day at school\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As Rachael\u2019s skills grew, she started teaching her own classes and she decided to make it a priority to focus on her students\u2019 mental health and well being. She started an activity called \u201cCircle Up,\u201d where the kids would gather around and express their feelings.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe \u2018Circle Up\u2019 at the beginning, middle and end of every class,\u201d Rachael said. \u201cI ask the kids to rate from one to ten how they\u2019re feeling. They can explain if they want to, but they don\u2019t have to.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Rachael\u2019s authentic concern for her students\u2019 well being has transformed her dance class into something more. She focuses not just on perfecting choreography but also on being a good person and triumphing over adversity.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI tell the kids that every day of your life can be different if you choose it to be different,\u201d she said. \u201cMy dance classes show them that you can be nice to other people. You don\u2019t have to fight or force things to get your way in life.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s very focused on loving those around her,\u201d explained Shonnie Fisher, the Teen Specialist at Rachael\u2019s Club. \u201cYou can tell that it comes from a personal place. She knows how it feels. She can truly empathize with the kids.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

This spring, Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Denver selected Rachael Haynes as our Citywide Youth of the Year. Rachael has a long list of academic and community achievements, but it was her dedication to helping others that most impressed our judges.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rachael has transformed her Boys & Girls Club just as the Club has transformed her. Soon, she will be heading to college but she leaves behind a legacy of helping others and strengthening the next generation.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNow, I\u2019m going to graduate [from high school]. I\u2019m going to be an adult. And I know I\u2019m ready. I know this because the Club has prepared me for what comes next.\u201d – Rachael Haynes, age 18<\/em><\/p>\n

Rachael encourages kids to believe in themselves and know they can achieve anything. “I\u2019m a miracle living in a world where being perfect is a disease.”<\/em><\/p>\n

“Rachael embodies the very best values of the Club. It’s my privilege to recognize her and her family tonight.\u00a0<\/i>” – BGCMD CEO Erin Porteous<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rachael likes to tell the story of when she was so small she fit in the palm of her father\u2019s hand. Born premature, Rachael faced some physical challenges early on. But you\u2019d never know that now. Rachael discovered her passion for dance in middle school. When she was offered a chance to teach dance to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":20907,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kid-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bgcmd.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20903","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bgcmd.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bgcmd.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bgcmd.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bgcmd.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20903"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/www.bgcmd.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20903\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20961,"href":"https:\/\/www.bgcmd.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20903\/revisions\/20961"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bgcmd.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20907"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bgcmd.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bgcmd.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bgcmd.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}