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| Congratulations Laurel! |
Congratulations to senior NPIDA dancers
Laurel S, Mikaela P, Esme M and Maria M, who all graduated from Grade 12 last month! Today we feature Laurel:
LAUREL
Laurel has been dancing at NPIDA for 11 years, since age seven. She is an Open Championship dancer, and has been a North American Championships qualifier and recaller, as well as a World Qualifier. She was a member of Eire Born for seven years, performing in hundreds of shows including the 2010 Olympics, and serving as Team Leader in many. She was an NPIDA Assistant Teacher for four years.
Laurel represented NPIDA at the Western Canadian Oireachtas in 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2013 (missing 2010 and 2014 due to illness and injury). She competed at the North American Championships three times (Chicago, Anaheim and Montreal), recalling in Montreal (2014) and placing 52nd in Ladies U-18. Laurel also competed twice at the World Championships; Boston (2013) as a member of NPIDA's senior 8-Hand team, and as a solo competitor in London (2014).
Laurel has graduated from Windsor Secondary School in North Vancouver. She was involved in a variety of clubs, including the Interact Club during all five years of high school, doing fundraising for African schools. She was also a member of the Welcome Club at Windsor, providing orientation and support for International students. She was chosen to participate in We Day for three years.
In the community, Laurel has also served as a volunteer at The Dugout, a soup kitchen in the downtown eastside, as well as at CityFest in North Vancouver. At NPIDA she co-organized initial Halloween Movie Nights and assisted for an additional four years.
Laurel has been the recipient of several awards and scholarships at the annual NPIDA Ceili, including the EBIDS Garlene Pickett Memorial award in 2013 and the NPIDA Garlene Pickett Memorial award in 2012.
Laurel was accepted at the following universities: University of Western Ontario, SFU, UVIC, Carleton, Ryerson, and McGill. She has accepted the offer from the University of Western Ontario, where she plans to major in Psychology. She has been offered an entrance scholarship from UWO.
Laurel hopes to dance at the 2016 North American Championships, but this will be dependent on her university schedule.
Congratulations Laurel!
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| Laurel - the early years |
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| Laurel at Oireachtas |
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| NAN's 2014 |
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| NAN's 2014 |
