Claire Iwai, head coach of the Blue Valley Northwest Dazzler Dance Team, hails from Bellevue, Nebraska; in addition to being the Dazzlers head coach, Ms. Iwai teaches eleventh grade communication arts. She earned bachelors degrees in both secondary education and English from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (to put it lightly, she's a pretty big Husker fan) and is currently pursuing her masters degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Growing up, Ms. Iwai took formal dance lessons for about ten years. While in high school, she was a four year member of both dance and flag teams and was eventually captain of both (Four out of five Iwai girls were members of the Bellevue West Thunderettes dance team-it must be in her genes!); during college, Ms. Iwai coached the Lincoln North Star Color Guard for three years. After spending a semester student teaching at Washington-Lee High School in Arlington, VA., Ms. Iwai found her home here in Overland Park and has been at Blue Valley Northwest since 2007.

Ms. Iwai comes from a large family of all girls (she's got four sisters) and enjoys going home to Nebraska to see them as often as she can. Her other interests include running, reading, learning how to cook, hanging out with friends and family, getting to know and help students, music, reading for pleasure, and a good episode of "The West Wing."

Assistant Coach:

Andrea Meli is the assistant coach of the Blue Valley Northwest Dazzler Dance team. This is her second year at Blue Valley Northwest where she teaches Spanish I and II. Born and raised in the area, Ms. Meli graduated from Olathe North High School and currently lives in Olathe. She attended Kansas State University where she earned a bachelor of science in secondary education with an emphasis in Spanish.

Ms. Meli has been dancing since the age of 3 when she first began taking dance classes at The Studio School of Dance in Olathe. She was a member of the drill team at Santa Fe Junior High for 2 years and was on the drill team for 3 years at Olathe North High School. Andrea continued to take dance at a local dance studio in Manhattan, KS throughout college. Ms. Meli still enjoys dancing and continues to take classes in her free time. Along with dancing she enjoys traveling, watching movies and spending time with friends and family.

Coaching/Sponsor philosophy:

With team unity, we will uphold our reputation by being responsible and respectful; with teamwork, we will make each performance a step up from the last.

Season Outlook (Expectations for the Year ahead):

Through supporting Blue Valley Northwest at athletic functions and assemblies as well as serving the community with their time and talents, the Dazzlers seek to maintain the superior level of performance they have set both on the team and in the classroom.

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