Drill Team debuts
July 9, 2008
By J.B. Wogan
The Eastside has a new drill team, and a Sammamish teenager is leading the charge.
Kendall Wiggins, 14, is the captain of the Eastside Drill Team, set to debut at the Redmond Parade July 12.
Kendall joined the team when it started practicing in the spring of last year. She said she preferred drill to other forms of dance she has tried.
“Everything seems to go where it’s supposed to,” she explained. Kendall a rising freshman at Redmond Junior High, attends the school as part of the Lake Washington School District’s accelerated learning program, Quest.
She is the oldest member of the 11-person team, which accepts all comers at all skill levels, from grades K-12, from beginner to advanced. The one caveat is that all members must be girls.
Emily Wilkins, 8, is another Sammamish resident on the team.
A rising third grader at Christa McAuliffe Elementary, Wilkins has been a member since the first day, too.
“I get to march with my friends,” she said. Emily’s mother, Jennifer Wilkins, is one of four instructors for the team.
“I’ve racked my brain and I can’t think of a drill team of this style ever on the Eastside,” said Jennifer. She and fellow instructor Heather Larson learned semi-military style drill while they were members of the Ballard Eagles, a longtime Seattle team still in existence.
Unlike traditional high school drill teams, the style perpetuated by Eastside Drill Team has no musical accompaniment, no batons or pom poms, and the outfits have a more “conservative” look, according to Larson.
The captain also doles out commands that are more authoritative and formal than in some high school drill teams, she said.
Because the Eastside Drill Team is a nonprofit, Wilkins said the squad relies on grassroots fundraising efforts like garage sales and car washes.
With uniforms that members borrow from the team, expenses are low relative to other dance or drill teams, Wilkins said.
The low-cost, all-ages and all-skill levels approach should bring girls together in a welcoming environment, Larson said.
“The idea is to raise self esteem with the girls,” she explained.
Jennifer said that the team will perform in six parades this summer, and may entertain guests at community firehouses as well.
Kendall Wiggins’ mother, Lisa Cason watched her daughter raise her knees at right angles and salute to the air.
Cason and her daughter live in the Summer Ridge neighborhood.
“The experience at her age with these instructors ahs been wonderful. She’s really grown because of that relationship,” said Cason. “She’s become a leader.”
Reporter J.B. Wogan can be reached 392-6434, ext. 247, or jbwogan@isspress.com.
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