Jam the Gym

The 2016 annual Jam the Gym event will feature a new dance coach and new routines, including a mother-daughter dance.

Jam the Gym, the main event of TWIRP BIRP week at Creston High School (CHS), kicks off at 6 p.m. Friday in the school gymnasium.

“One of the new things is the Salt and Pepper sponsor, Kalian Smith,” said Peg Eblen, CHS teacher. “She teaches dance at Leslie’s (Dance Emporium), and this is her first year.”

Eblen said while it will mostly be Peppers dances, there will also be a co-ed dance, seniors’ dance, two routines by the Little Peppers and Little Salts and a few dances by the Southwestern Community College Dazzlers.

After the dance routines, the TWIRP BIRP king will be crowned, and then the TWIRP BIRP dance will be held from 9 to 11 p.m. in the CHS commons.

King candidates this year are seniors Kyle Fenton, Cameron Leith, Cooper McDermott, Curtis Palmer and Miguel Villegas.

Tickets for Jam the Gym are $5 and may be purchased in advance in the CHS main office or at the door. Proceeds go toward the Salt and Pepper dance teams.

“The Peppers have had a long tradition of going to state competitions and doing well, and for a number of years, they’ve had camps for younger kids, so I think that has increased involvement in Jam the Gym,” Eblen said. “The Peppers’ performances are high-energy and classy, so it’s pretty entertaining.”

In her first year as coach for the Salts and Peppers dance teams, Smith said she is most looking forward to “seeing the dancers performing on the floor with giant smiles.”

“It will be fun because we have several different styles of routines, including pom routines, a goofy little Christmas number and then our co-ed division did a good job winning state this year, so it will be fun for them to perform the same dance they did at state,” Smith said.

Leading up to the dances and king crowning on Friday will be dress-up days. The dress-up schedule is as follows:

Monday: Pajama/wacky hair day
Tuesday: Doppleganger day (dress like a teacher, friend, family member or celebrity)
Wednesday: Workout day (Richard Simmons' 1980s workout attire or any workout gear)
Thursday: Skittles day (ninth grade – red; 10th grade – orange; 11th grade – yellow; 12th grade – lime green; faculty and staff – purple)
Friday: Matching T-shirt day