The Warrior Dance Team traveled to New York City Nov. 17 to Nov. 23 to dance in the ninety-second annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. The team also attended Broadway shows like Aladdin, Kinky Boots and Wicked, the Rockettes’s Winter Spectacular show, Times Square, the 9/11 Memorial, Central Park and other New York City landmarks.

“My favorite part [of the trip] was bonding with all of the girls and becoming a little family,” junior Sarah Parker said.

The eight girls who represented Jupiter High in the parade were four team captains Kaya Mancini, Gina Manno, Kayleigh Sternberg and Marissa Viele along with four “veteran” members Lindsey Fine, Kaitlynn Partridge, Sarah Parker and Sierra Witchey.

“The only girls who were eligible to go to New York were veterans from last year who made the team again this year because the final payment for the trip was due before tryouts for the 2018-2019 team,” junior Sternberg said.

The team finally raised enough funds to go on the trip after a year of fundraisers including a Chipotle night, collecting change at football games, a Lily Pulitzer fundraiser night and a fundraiser with Blueline Surf and Paddle company. The team raised around $6,000 and the trip costed around $3,000 for each girl to attend; however, many of the team members fundraised on their own for the trip.

“I remember going to a football game last year on the Friday after I made the team to raise funds for the trip, and now the trip actually happened. We waited so long and it was so exciting to see an abstract dream come true,” senior Partridge said.

The team was invited to perform with Spirit of America Productions after placing first at the 2017 Spirit Shine Celebration’s state-wide competition in Kissimmee, Fla.

“[Winning States] was amazing! It really validated all of our hard work, and it definitely inspired us to do bigger and better things,” said dance team coach Rebecca Hansen. Hansen also teaches AICE Global Perspectives.