💃 Youth Spotlight🎉 Allow us to introduce and feature 15 year old Ariihanna McCoy!

Arihanna started dancing when she was at Heard Street Elementary school (see first recital pic 💟). She has won awards for dance at Central Mass Dance Academy and on Burncoat Dance Team, as well as in regional and national competitions. But Ariihanna does not dance right now because her family had to move for housing reasons. Her mom Danielle says Ariihanna “wants to move back to Worcester so bad. She misses dance and the city life.” Ariihanna is an athlete. Her mom says she has been singing and dancing since she was little andhas videos of Ariihanna “as baby jamming out word-for-word to One Direction and making her own dances to wrecking ball at like 3 or 4 years old.” She was even selected to compete in the WPS Mini-Olympics at Foley Stadium, a track and field competition for select student-athletes under 13 years of age from the city’s elemetary schools. She now plays flag football “like her brothers,” says Mom, and she stands up to sexism every time she hits the field.

Ariihanna had high academic achievement in Worcester and liked school. Unfortunately this bright student has faced horrific bullying and racism* where they currently reside, but Ariihanna is resilient. She attends online school and, at 15, already knows what she wants to do with her life! She is a sophmore and says she completes six hours a day of school through a state-approved educational app. She wants to attend Louisiana State University and study marine biology.

Ariihanna and Mom Danielle

Mom says Ariihanna’s fan club, including CMDA director (and Burncoat Dance Team coach) and her first ever teacher, are over the moon for her to have this exposure to dance again and showed WUW her facebook feed about the event. Her mom says this act by What’s Up Worcester made her “mom heart happy,” and their reponse to the phone call announcing her as contest winner was emotional. Mom says, “She has been through hell and back in 15 years.” What’s Up Worcester feels they both deserve a night on us! In alignment with our mission to make a difference in the community with our storytelling and events, this non-profit is satisfied with our first Out On the Town VIP Series event featuring Ariihanna McCoy.