PMAE: May 1 Deadline Reminder! *UPDATED*

UPDATED MARCH 28:

The PMAE now has a Facebook page!

Please click HERE

A reminder to all dancers that the MAY 1 deadline for the 2017 PMAE is soon approaching! The PMAE is the Patrick McAndless Award of Excellence, now in it's 5th year!

The PMAE recognizes dancers with the Nora Pickett Irish Dance Academy who demonstrate the highest qualities of passion, work ethic, dedication, persistence, and leadership in pursuit of excellence in Irish dance, academics, and voluntary community service.

4 recipients each receive $500

1 recipient receives $1000

1 recipient receives $2000

To apply for the PMAE, applicants must be:

- A  registered dancer with the NPIDA

- 10 years of age or older

- Currently enrolled in elementary, secondary or post secondary school

Read all about the PMAE on their dedicated website HERE, including instructions on how to submit your application!

Everyone Has An Opportunity To Be A PMAE Winner

PMAE trophy

The PMAE recognizes dancers with NPIDA who demonstrate the highest qualities of passion, work ethic, dedication, persistence and leadership in pursuit of excellence in Irish dance, academics and voluntary community service. The PMAE is available as a $5000 donation that is divided into six awards for excellence:

      * 4 recipients each receive $500

* 1 recipient receives $1000

* 1 recipient receives $2000

To apply for the PMAE, applicants must be:
* a registered dancer with the NPIDA
* 10 years of age or older
* currently enrolled in elementary, secondary or post secondary school

For further information about the PMAE

and to apply, please click HERE.

Please note:

Reference Request forms must be submitted by May 1, 2016.

Applications must be submitted by May 15, 2016

PMAE Update: Why Volunteer?

Megan and Kassidy: Volunteering at the Van Eire Feis

(Photo credit: Gillian S)

Reminder to NPIDA dancers age 10 and older: have you applied yet for the 2016 PMAE?

- Reference Request forms must be submitted by May 1, 2016

- Applications must be submitted by May 15, 2016

Volunteering is defined as time willingly given for the common good and without financial gain.

So why is it good to do volunteering? Here are five good reasons:

1. Gain New Experiences
 Volunteering allows you to get involved in new things and develop social skills.

2. Give Back and Help Others
 Volunteering allows you to give back to your community and make a difference in people’s lives.

3. Make Connections with People
 Volunteering allows you to build relationships with people and reflects your positive character traits.

4. Gives a Sense of Accomplishment
 Volunteer work makes you feel good knowing you have helped others.

5. Builds Career Options
 Recruiters and employers now use volunteering as a filter to determine your suitability for employment. It shows your commitment to an organization.

For further information about the PMAE

and to apply, please click HERE

Interview With Megan, 2015 PMAE Winner

PMAE trophy

In May 2015, Megan S was awarded the $1000 PMAE award. Below is an interview with Megan, which can also be viewed on the PMAE website:

Megan

1. What does winning the PMAE mean to you? 
Winning the PMAE means a lot to me. I’ve worked really hard in my dance career to try and be the best I can be, as well as working really hard at school, and I have worked really hard to volunteer as much as I can. It feels good to do this kind of work and it makes me feel good that people appreciate what I do.

2. Can you tell us a bit about your love for Irish Dance and your passion, work ethic, dedication and persistence towards Irish Dance?
Irish dance is my main passion and there are so many things I love about it. As well as having so many great friends, one of the reasons why I love Irish Dance is all the challenges involved in it. Sometimes the dance teachers give us some hard choreography and it takes a lot of practice to perfect it and I really like the challenge of that. I have really put in the effort towards Irish Dance to be the best that I can be. I dance at least four days a week and I normally have a cross training class on the weekend. I’m working really hard and putting in a lot of time to try and improve my dancing. Dancing means so much to me and I always want to put my best effort into it.

3. How did you initially get involved in volunteering and what was one of your first experiences and/or favourite early memories from volunteering?
I initially got involved in volunteering when I was in elementary school. I had a few friends in some of the older grades at my school and I saw them volunteering a lot, so that made me want to start volunteering and help the school and our community.

One of my first experiences volunteering was delivering hot lunch and frozen yoghurt to classes in my school. Sometimes my friends and I would get our own class and it was fun delivering the food to our friends and classmates. I’d have to say one of my favourite memories from volunteering was lunch monitoring with some of my friends. During lunch, we would go to a kindergarten class every day and monitor them and help them. We would play games and the kids were really fun to be around.

4. What types of volunteer work did you do in the past few years that you included in your PMAE application?
I did a lot of volunteer work at my elementary school. I did anything from helping out the teachers in their class, lunch monitoring, peer counselling, and more. I wanted to help make our school a better place and I wanted to be a good role model for the younger kids so that when they got into the older grades, they would help our community as well.

5. Can you describe what you have learned and how you have grown from doing volunteer work?
I have learned many things from volunteering. I have learned that getting involved is important because by getting involved, you could be helping make a difference in people’s lives. I also learned that volunteering and helping others makes me feel good and makes me happy. And finally, I learned that anything you do to help, you’re helping the community in many different ways.

I feel like I have grown from doing volunteer work because I have become more responsible. People are showing me that they trust me by giving me more responsible things to do. From teaching dance classes, to helping my classmates at school, it makes me happy and excited to do more volunteer work.

6. What would be your advice to other dancers as they are thinking about applying for the PMAE award? 
I think my advice for the dancers at NPIDA would be to get involved. If you get involved, you could be helping people’s lives and help make them better, including yours. Even helping with little kids or picking up some garbage around your school could really help. You may not think what you’re doing to help is a lot, but you could really help the community and help make our world a better place to live in.

For further information about the PMAE,

and to apply, please click HERE

- Reference Request forms must be submitted by May 1, 2016

- Applications must be submitted by May 15, 2016

Interview With Jessie, 2015 PMAE Winner

The PMAE trophy

In May 2015, Jessie H was awarded the top ($2000) PMAE award. Below is an interview with Jessie, which can also be viewed on the PMAE website:

Jessie

1. What does winning the PMAE mean to you? 
Winning the PMAE award this past year was truly an honourable moment for me. There are so many dancers that are so deserving of the award, and I was overjoyed to receive it! Winning the award not only made me feel great about what I do with community volunteer work, but it also helped me to believe that I am a good leader, and that what I do really makes a difference. Of course, it was extra special to me since Patrick is such a huge inspiration to me!

2. Can you tell us a bit about your love for Irish Dance and your passion, work ethic, dedication and persistence towards Irish Dance?
To me, Irish dance isn’t just my hobby, it’s so much more than that. Ever since I first stepped onto the dance floor I have been completely in love with dancing. I knew on my very first day that I would be doing this for a very long time. And I was right! From a very young age I have had very high goals and always pushed myself to the limit to achieve them. There have been days when I spend hours and hours after class with the furniture cleared, drilling steps in front of my little mirror. And although I don’t always reach my goals, it doesn’t hold me back, but rather motivates me to work even harder. Through injuries and health issues, I will continue to put my all into achieving my goals and being dedicated with Irish Dance.

3. How did you initially get involved in volunteering and what was one of your first experiences and/or favourite early memories from volunteering?
I got involved in volunteering with leadership clubs in elementary school and also with the animal shelter initially. Eire Born and teaching at dance was also a part of the beginning of my volunteering.

One of my most memorable experiences from volunteering was when I did a show at a nursing home which my grandmother worked at. Everybody wanted to see me dancing, so I put on a show for them and they absolutely loved it! They kept telling me how honoured they were to be able to see a famous dancer, which made me laugh a bit but it was really sweet of them to say. It made me so happy to leave them all smiling after the show.

4. What types of volunteer work did you do in the past few years that you included in your PMAE application?
I have done lots of volunteer work at school in clubs such as student council. We did food drives, a penny drive for clean water in Africa, and a bake sale for cancer research. I have also volunteered at the animal shelter and at the food bank, which have been amazing experiences.

I have also done a lot of fundraising on my own for foundations such as the Children’s Hospital, food bank, and the SPCA. Every year my neighbours and I sponsor a family in need over the holiday season as well.

5. Can you describe what you have learned and how you have grown from doing volunteer work?
Doing volunteer work has taught me that you don’t necessarily have to be super experienced or an expert about things to be able to make a difference in your community. Making a change can be as simple as feeding animals at the animal shelter or donating to the food bank. Since I started volunteering, I have started to take initiative more and I feel like I am a contributing member of the community.

6. What would be your advice to other dancers as they are thinking about applying for the PMAE award? 
My advice for other dancers applying for the PMAE award would be to not only find a bunch of volunteering opportunities to use for your application, but make sure you are gaining something from it. The award is all about inspiring people to be leaders, so it is so important that you learn something from it your experiences! I suggest you do things you are really passionate about and take time to think about what you are doing to help.

As well, you should make it a part of your regular schedule to do some community service every once in a while. Remember, every little thing you do counts!

For further information about the PMAE,

and to apply, please click HERE

- Reference Request forms must be submitted by May 1, 2016

- Applications must be submitted by May 15, 2016

Pat McAndless Award For Excellence 2016 and New PMAE Website

THE PATRICK MCANDLESS

AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE (PMAE) WEBSITE

IS UP AND RUNNING

Pat

The McAndless Family Foundation in conjunction with the Nora Pickett Irish Dance Academy (NPIDA) and the Eire Born Irish Dance Society (EBIDS) is pleased to announce the Patrick McAndless Award For Excellence (PMAE) website is available and ready to receive applications.

About PMAE

The PMAE recognizes dancers with NPIDA who demonstrate the highest qualities of passion, work ethic, dedication, persistence and leadership in pursuit of excellence in Irish dance, academics and voluntary community service. The PMAE is available as a $5000 donation that is divided into six (6) awards for excellence:

* 4 recipients each receive $500
* 1 recipient receives $1000
* 1 recipient receives $2000

To apply for the PMAE, applicants must be:

* a registered dancer with the NPIDA
* 10 years of age or older
* currently enrolled in elementary, secondary or post secondary school

For further information about the PMAE and to apply please click HERE.

Reference Request forms must be submitted by May 1, 2016.

Applications must be submitted by May 15, 2016

About Patrick

Patrick McAndless is a recognized leader in the minerals industry, and now dedicates his time as a guest lecturer helping students with their career development. He is a long time volunteer and former board chair of NPIDA, and continues to be involved with Eire Born shows.

When asked about the award, Patrick said, “This is my way of giving back to the community by supporting the growth and development of youth in their pursuit of excellence in dance, academics and community service."

We encourage all eligible NPIDA dancers to apply - no matter what your level of dance or volunteer experience.  Everyone has an opportunity to be a PMAE winner!

- The McAndless Family Foundation