When school opened in the fall, it welcomed new staff members, including the new dance teacher and eMotions dance sponsor, Meoka McBride. She came from Lamar High School in hopes of expressing her artistic side.

“I was ready to relocate,” McBride said. “I wanted to find a new home and find a new place. Here, I could really open up as an artist and have artistic freedom. I feel like I can do that here.”

McBride has always loved dance. So when she saw the opportunity to move to a school with a good dance team, she took it.  However before she found dance, she majored in psychology at Sam Houston State University.

“I didn’t want to do psychology,” McBride said. “I danced throughout high school and was on the drill team. I loved to dance. I just didn’t know I had an option to do that as a major. When I found out that I could, I never looked back.”

After finding her true passion and reaching a career, McBride gained confidence in herself. She passed that confidence onto her dancers in hopes that her dancers will bring a strong performance.

“It’s already a really strong dance program here, so I want to continue that,” McBride said. “I also want to continue helping the dancers build confidence on stage and change some of the visuals on stage to make things more dynamic. Anytime we represent eMotions on stage or anywhere in the community, we want to present something strong. I want to make sure every performance is strong.”

McBride planned to make a positive impact on the team. One example is that she brought them to competition.

“I think exposing my students to different opportunities helps them build confidence and grow as artists overall,” McBride said. “As much as I can, I expose my students to things that are going to broaden their minds and help them as dancers.That’s what I want to do.”

After nine years of teaching, McBride has learned a lot. She found her passion and is proud to teach her dancers new ways of performing

“I never thought I would be a dance teacher,” McBride said. “I never thought that was something I could actually do. Over the years, I have learned a lot,  and I have become confident in my teaching. I love knowing that I have something valuable to provide to my students.”