While dancing, it is important to be able to see yourself to make sure you’re hitting all the right moves and not making any crucial mistakes, according to Nikki Stroup, dance teacher and cheer coach. That is why mirrors are an important part to dancing and a key part of any dance room. The existing mirrors in WLHS dance room, though, were inadequate as many dancers had trouble finding enough mirror space with the limited amount of mirrors that were available.

“When the dance room was built, they installed mirrors on a wall that didn’t really make sense,” Stroup said. “That meant that a wall was left blank. So we had to raise money to get new mirrors on that side.”

Since the school didn’t have the funds to pay for the new mirrors, Stroup applied for and was granted funds by the Clackamas Cultural Coalition and the WL WV Music and Arts Partners (MAP). The grants provided enough money so that the once empty wall now has mirrors. The new mirrors were installed on March 7.

The dance room, which is often used by the dance classes along with activities like NIA (a combination dance and martial arts class), cheerleading and the Debutantes,  is now properly equipped to hold the many students that use the dance room, according to Stroup.

“[The new mirrors] already are a big improvement from what was there before,” Stroup said.