Erin Coakley ’07 knows there’s no “I” in
team. Erin has a love for dance that she has shared with
both St. Lawrence and the Canton community since she arrived on campus. When
she was a First-Year student, Erin and her friends, Shannon Casucci ’06
and Lauren Jaquin ’07, had an idea to start a dance
team at St. Lawrence. “After taking a ballet
class together, we knew we wanted to start something that performed
all the time, but also gave us the sense of being on a team and working
together,” she says.
Pioneering a team at St. Lawrence takes
a lot of energy, dedication, and determination, and Erin has all
three. “When we started, we had ten girls on the
team. Working with those girls, we were able to build a strong team that showed
respect for each other, as well as trusting one another in the decisions we make.
Today, we have thirty girls.”
While choreographing and teaching dances are her passions,
Erin says the dance team has given her much more than that. “The
most rewarding thing about being a part of this team is knowing that
it means something to everyone. It has made a difference with
every girl, and this is a huge reason why it keeps moving forward.”
When
she’s not making up dances for the team, she is busy working
with surrounding high schools, choreographing dances for their spring
musicals. “Doing
this throughout my high school career gave me the experience I needed
to work with both my peers and high school students, and I learned
a lot from working with them. I am always growing from
what I learn, and
that is the reason I will never stop loving what I do.”
Erin majors in speech
and theatre, spent spring 2005 in Trinidad
& Tobago, and graduated from Hugh C. Williams High School.
She’s a member of multi-generational Laurentian family that
includes her mother, brother and sister, several cousins, uncle, and
great-aunt.
