Lineup announced for Dancing Stars of Wayne
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on September 2, 2016 1:46 PM
Full Size
News-Argus/PHYLLIS MOORE
Potential and confirmed participants and dance studios in the sixth annual Dancing Stars of Wayne County fundraiser for education met Wednesday to kick off the upcoming event, planned for Nov. 4 at the Paramount Theatre. Front row, from left Aaronia Grady, Auleana Barnes, Crystal Boudy and Michelle Garon. Second row, Edna Gambella, Helen Baddour, Rebecca Bartik and Jessie Carter. Third row, Ross Zacharzuk, Terry Gainer, Laura Peedin, Steve Mitchell and Dr. Ben Eskra. Fourth row, Jeremy May, Patricia Warren, Nikki Painter, Tara Warren, Chad Lewis, Vic Miller and Brandi Nagypal.
On the heels of this week's splashy announcement about the cast in the upcoming TV season of "Dancing With the Stars," the Wayne County version began working on one of its own Wednesday afternoon.
A kickoff meeting was held at the Wayne County Chamber of Commerce for potential and confirmed participants in the sixth annual Dancing Stars of Wayne County event, planned for Nov. 4 at the Paramount Theater.
Wayne Education Network, or WEN, sponsors the event, a fundraiser that benefits such education efforts as teacher mini grants and scholarships, middle school career fair and teacher stipends to support teacher assistants while they step out of the classroom to further their education.
"We think we do a good job to help education but obviously we need resources to do that," said Dr. Ed Wilson, who oversees the WEN program.
Lara Landers, director of marketing and events for the chamber, provided an overview of the upcoming event, which pairs "stars" with students in local dance studios, to choreograph their performances.
Similar to the popular TV show, the ultimate winner is determined by votes. In the case of the community fundraiser, though, the votes are monetary, either online or via paper ballots.
There are also additional recognitions based on presentation, technical skills and a judges award.
Dance studios supporting this year's event include Academy of Performing Arts, Artistic Dance Academy, A Step of Class, Goldsboro School of Ballet and Studio 33 Dance Company.
The preliminary lineup of dancers for this year's event includes Rebecca Bartik, a chemo nurse at Southeastern Medical Oncology Center; Helen Baddour, attorney at Baddour, Parker and Hine; Auleana Barnes, owner of Radiant Serenity Esthetics and Spa; Jessie Carter, a home-school mother of four; Dr. Ben Eskra, plastic surgeon with Wayne Health Physicians; Corey Cooley of N.C. Wesleyan; Terry Gainer of Seymour Johnson Air Force Base; Edna Gambella, a Spanish teacher at St. Mary School; Michelle Garon, health occupations teacher at Eastern Wayne High; Cynthia Giambatista, digital teaching and learning coach with WCPS; Aaronia Grady of Daniels and Daniels Construction; Michael Hayes, finance officer with Wayne County Public Schools; Chad Lewis, teacher at Dillard Middle School; Jeremy May of BB&T; Vic Miller, a retired veteran Veterans Coalition; Steve Mitchell, CPA with Markham, Mitchell and Stroud; Brandi Nagypal of Heritage Farms; Laura Peedin, an English teacher at Eastern Wayne High; Emily Tucker of Brookdale Berkeley Boulevard; and Ross Zacharzuk of Precision Plumbing.