Jan. 18, 2019 -- Before Rachael Evans graduated from Heights High in 2012, she had a lot on her plate: tennis, lacrosse, violin, guitar, and Advanced Placement courses. But her true love was cheerleading, where she served as team captain her senior year. After she earned her B.A. in Business Administration/Human Resources from Kent State University in 2016, Ms. Evans put her cheerleading and dance background to good use as a Monsters Hockey Girl, the dance team for Cleveland’s professional hockey team.
But Cleveland Heights was tugging at Ms. Evans, a product of district schools from kindergarten through 12th grade. “It was only right for me to come back,” she says of her stint as the freshmen cheerleading coach during the 2017-18 season. “It’s part of the Heights mentality: If you have the opportunity to come back and help out here, you always will.”
But while coaching last year, she noticed how many other schools had dance teams and couldn't help but think, "Heights should really have one of those!" So she did what Tiger grads so often do and made it happen herself.
After securing the approval of everyone from varsity cheerleading coach Branella Basit to Athletic Director Joe D’Amato to Superintendent Dr. Talisa Dixon, the Heights Tigress Dance Team was born. With Ms. Evans as their head coach and chief choreographer, they debuted at the first home basketball game in December and have been wowing audiences ever since.
The team is made up of 10 girls in ninth through twelfth grades. "I'm so impressed with their camaraderie," says Ms. Evans. "They never bring anything personal into practice and are just so pleasant to be around, even for Saturday morning practices." She is instructing them in all major dance genres, from ballet and jazz to majorette and hip hop. "They really need to know all the techniques behind the moves if they ever want to take dance to the next level."
Ms. Evans is taking her own career to the next level and will graduate with an MBA in Health Care Administration from Cleveland State University this spring. She hopes to stay with the dance team, but it will depend on the type of job she chooses. But no matter what, her heart remains in the Heights. And with the Heights Tigress Dance Team.