Due to budget cuts, the Camas High School (CHS) dance team was disbanded starting the 2023-2024 school year. They competed for over 20 years and had many dedicated members, establishing a school tradition. Many members feel frustrated by this change since they can no longer dance and compete with their friends.  

“I feel annoyed. I don’t think it should have been cut. I feel like we could have done more,” the former team captain, junior Beatrice Munson, said.

The budget cuts drastically impacted the lives of the girls on the former dance team after their sport was taken away. The students lost the opportunity to express themselves through dance with friends and can no longer compete for their school. If the CHS dance team returned, most said they would join again and miss the sport.

“I am sad about the dance team being cut, and I know a lot of other people are too,” the team captain two years ago, junior Lilly Langer, said, “it’s been hard to find other places to dance.”

The dance team used to perform at assemblies and competitions every weekend. Langer said they provided extra flair and school spirit to these events. 

Associate Principal and Sports Director Stephen Baranowski was a student at CHS and has memories of the dance team back when he attended. He hopes the team will be added back next year and thinks it will come down to how much interest there is in the group. He believes that in the next few years, the interest will increase significantly due to the number of middle schoolers who have started participating in dance.

“The reason I’m optimistic about [the dance team returning to CHS] is our middle school [dance] program, specifically the one at Skyridge, has big numbers right now, so we’d like to try to engage those kids right when they transition to high school and get them involved,” Baranowski said.  

Overall, the dance team at CHS was a positive activity that led many Papermakers to meet who they now call their best friends, making the team’s cut a significant loss.

“It was fun and I’m glad I did it. I met my two best friends … I definitely recommend it for other people, especially all the people coming from middle school dance teams,” Langer said.