My dream was to establish the first-ever majorette dance team at The Willow School, a predominantly white institution in New Orleans. Most other schools here have majorette teams; they march in parades and have marching bands too. We have none of that. Majorette dancing started in 1968 and it comes from the HBCU community and serves as a symbol for many African Americans. It was disappointing to not see something that displayed Black excellence, femininity, pride, and precision at my school. Willow missed this display of strength that should’ve been a part of our school community. As a former dancer, I understood the importance of the art, especially majorette dancing: it builds confidence in young women and dance builds morale at events. I met with administrators, and eventually gained approval from the CEO. There was also a need for student support, so I presented the idea to interested students. The idea was also presented to the now co-captain,who was a majorette, E’mya. Currently, I choreograph routines, captain, lead rehearsals, pick band style music tracks, and set performance dates. At the beginning, this seemed daunting because there was no framework for a majorette team in my school’s history. I spent weeks researching and writing a detailed proposal that outlined the team’s purpose, budget, logistical needs, and stressed the need for this group. It did not get easier after that. Next, I had to find a sponsor and confirm a practice space. I asked our dance teacher and a teacher who was a former dancer to be the sponsor. We managed to schedule a division of the dance room between our cheerleading team and our club. But there was no club without participants. For our debut I taught a cater to E’mya and Tyanna. On club fair day, we got a speaker, made a signup sheet, and danced our hearts out. That attracted many dancers and some wanted to be managers. That was how “Lionettes” was born. This experience taught me that bridging awareness to a gap in cultures requires persistence, organization, and the ability to articulate needs and wants. Now we are setting a new tradition that showcases Black excellence. Lionettes keep growing. My next step is advancing from a club to an official school organization. This will require meeting with administrators, the CEO, figuring out permanent uniforms, dues, and which sport events we will perform at. This ensures that the tradition I established will thrive, continuing to empower young Black women at our school for years to come. Recently, the “Lionettes” have been in talk with administration about when tryouts can be and coordinated with the cheerleading team, so as to not overstep.