Newsletter Summer 2022 by The Wooden Floor

Juanita turns mistakes into opportunities, pg. 6

Supporter sightings, pg. 11

SUMMER

Introducing the Class of 2022, pg. 5

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Sea of Courage When I glanced out into the ballroom on April 27 during our Step Beyond Annual Breakfast, I witnessed a sea of courage in front of me.

Dawn S. Reese

Chief Executive Officer @DawnSReese

Since the pandemic began in 2020, our students have shown the courage and determination and the hopeful optimism for their futures. We must not forget that our students from this current graduating class, the Class of 2022 (featured on Page 5), were just sophomores in high school in 2020, and had to take the majority of their classes virtually or in a hybrid format. As you can imagine the strains were numerous and included learning challenges, technology challenges, relationship challenges, and mental health challenges. One shining light in their lives has been The Wooden Floor. Our students have shared with me that their time after school with The Wooden Floor’s staff and our services provided a respite for our students and made them feel safe when the world around them felt very uncertain. Our staff are courageous and have created a welcoming environment for our students to thrive during the pandemic. As students walk through our doors, often weary, they are warmly greeted before their dance education classes where their faculty and accompanists challenge them through movement to use their experiences as their strength, and their academic advisors encourage them to stay focused on their big dreams towards higher education and beyond. Our Board of Directors and our supporters are courageous because each and every day, they have walked by our side to ensure that we have been able to maintain the same high quality and outcomes that our students and their families have learned to expect from us. The sea of courage is one community coming together as one, to move young people forward. Join us to learn about ways you can make a difference at The Wooden Floor and in our community. With gratitude,

THE WOODEN FLOOR

Tickets for our 39th Annual Concert are on sale now! To reserve your ticket, point your phone’s camera here:

or visit TheWoodenFloor.org/AnnualConcert

Mission Moment Inside The Studio Supporters enthusiastically returned to The Wooden Floor’s Studio Theatre for Inside the Studio, an event designed to give audiences a sneak peek of our 39th Annual Concert: Hope Abounds. Students performed the beginnings of the innovative, ground-breaking dances to be featured in the Annual Concert. Supporters were also able to ask questions of our students and resident choreographers, Kendra Portier and Christina Robson, about the collaborative dance-making process, with Artistic Director Falon Baltzell moderating.

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Newsfeed EN EL ESTUDIO MARCH 2022 En el Estudio provides an opportunity for parents to see the dance pieces co-created by their students as they diligently prepare for the 39th Annual Concert. Dancers proudly demonstrated their dance-in-progress with guest choreographers, Christina Robson and Kendra Portier as well as Artistic Director Falon Baltzell. The interactive experience encouraged parents to ask questions about The Wooden Floor’s unique dance-making process, and left parents and students alike with excitement and anticipation for this year’s Annual Concert: Hope Abounds.

CAREER DAY: GAMING AND COMPUTER DESIGN APRIL 2022 The Wooden Floor’s Gaming and Computer Design Career Day drew students to hear from panelists working in the tech and gaming sectors. Panelists included Crystal Mora, Creative Recruiter at Blizzard Entertainment; Joe Ramos, a current CSU Long Beach student studying Computer Engineering; and The Wooden Floor alumnus, Vincent Perez '08, who received his MS in Integrated Design, Business, and Technology from the University of Southern California, is currently working at Q Branch, the global internal agency at Salesforce, and is also the co-founder of Elysian, an online marketplace for end-of-life planning.

THE WOODEN FLOOR

INTRODUCING THE CLASS OF 2022

Giselle Arteaga

Isabella Botero

Melany Brondo

Rafael Corona

Viviana Davalos

Ashley Diaz

Mariana Garcia

Yetza Garcia

Evy Gonzalez

Stephanie Gonzalez

Kassandra Guevara

Michelle Guzman

Leilani Lace

Cesar Luna

Rafael Miranda

Diana Montiel

Victoria Ocampo

Vanessa Ochoa

Xitlalli Salgado

Moises Santiago

Chelsea Olivarez

Juanita Oñate

Mayerli Parra

Ian Roman

Trinity Tran

Karla Valle

Jurithma Velazquez

Mateo Zarate

THE CLASS OF 2022 HAS BEEN ACCEPTED TO THE FOLLOWING COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES:

Babson College Boston University Brigham Young University Cal Poly Pomona California State University, Dominguez Hills California State University, Fullerton California State University, Long Beach California State University, Los Angeles California State University, Northridge

Chapman University Golden West College Irvine Valley College Lewis & Clark College Life Pacific University Loyola Marymount University Point Loma University Orange Coast College Oregon State University San Diego State University San Francisco State University San Jose State University Santa Ana College Santiago Canyon College

University of California, Berkeley University of California, Davis University of California, Irvine University of California, Riverside University of California, San Diego University of California, Santa Barbara University of California, Santa Cruz University of La Verne University of San Diego University of San Francisco University of Southern California Vanguard University Woodbury University As of 4/4/2022.

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In the First Person:

Juanita Class of 2022

“Dance taught me to roll with my mistakes and to keep going. I was always afraid to fail, but now because of The Wooden Floor, I know when you make a mistake, you can make it into something better or learn from it. That is the same in school - if I don’t get a good grade, I won’t get stuck on a problem, I will go back to see what I can learn from it. I learned how to undo the perfectionist in me. I learned your imperfections are what make you perfect.” Juanita, Class of 2022

Juanita joins her siblings in being the first generation in her family to be on track to obtain a college education. She has a 3.9 GPA and is “enamored” with coding and video game design. This fall, she will be attending Santiago Canyon College with the dream of transferring to USC because she is “very interested in their game design program as well as their campus.”

THE WOODEN FLOOR

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June 2-4, 2022

Irvine Barclay Theatre

AN INSPIRING CONTEMPORARY DANCE EVENT T ICK E TS ON SALE NOW TheWoodenFloor.org/AnnualConcert

Free: Arts Night Out Free pre-performance chat with the cast + choreographers

Friday, June 3 at 6:45pm

presented by

TheWoodenFloor.org

2021-2022 Board of Directors Theresa Allen,* Board Chair Managing Director and Portfolio Manager, First Republic Private Wealth Management

T H A N K YO U TO O U R

39th Annual Concert Underwriters! HONORARY UNDERWRITERS The Beall Family Foundation ASSOCIATE UNDERWRITERS Marilyn McIntyre Socorro & Ernesto Vasquez CONCERT UNDERWRITERS Bobbi Cox Davis/Dauray Family Fund Sharon & Terry Hartshorn Helen Sperry Lea Foundation Linda and Tod White Charitable Fund Cath MacIver & Jim Slaughter CONCERT PARTNERS Theresa & Jonathon Allen Michelle & Timothy Dean Gochnauer Family Foundation Yvonne & Damien Jordan Carole & Rich Lee CONCERT SUPPORTERS Hydraflow – The Ayloush Family The John & CC Nelson Family MEDIA SPONSOR

*As of 05/3/2022.

Judith F. Posnikoff, PhD,* Immediate Past Chair Managing Director, Martlet Asset Management, LLC Saar Swartzon,* Vice Chair Principal Attorney, Cohn & Swartzon, a Professional Law Corporation Yvonne O’Neill,* Treasurer Certified Public Accountant, O’Neill Financial Management Joseph Chatelle,* Secretary Principal, Mercer Sasha Ayloush,* Director of Sales & Marketing, Hydraflow Falon Baltzell, MFA, Artistic Director, The Wooden Floor Seán Curran, Chair, Department of Dance, NYU Tisch School of the Arts Michelle Dean,* Community Leader Brent Funston, Chief Executive Officer, Wind River Group, LLC Elizabeth Gonzalez, Alumni Representative Community Leader Raquel Gonzalez, Parent Representative, Community Leader Bryan Green, Financial Advisor, Edward Jones Jehan Jayakumar, Founding Partner, Carlson & Jayakumar, LLP Naveen Jonathan, PhD, LMFT, Community Representative Clinical Associate Professor of Marriage & Family Therapy, Chair, Marriage & Family Therapy, Crean College of Health & Behavioral Sciences, Chapman University Simon Khinda, Partner, Bridge Law, LLP

THE WOODEN FLOOR

Jeremy Krout, President/CEO, Environmental Planning Development Solutions, Inc. Richard Lee, Market President, Retired, Aetna, Southern California Catherine M. MacIver, Community Leader Dana McCollum, General Manager, American Funds/Capital Group Companies, Inc. Linh Nguyen, Vice President, Advance Beauty College Arthur Ong, Executive Vice President, Retired, Deputy General Counsel PIMCO Alix Portillo, Assistant Vice President, Compliance Monitoring Officer, Genesis Bank Dawn S. Reese, CFRE, Chief Executive Officer, The Wooden Floor Jim Slaughter, Partner, Slaughter & Slaughter, LLP Ernesto M. Vasquez, FAIA, NCARB, Partner & CEO, SVA Architects, Inc. Fabiola Velazquez, Parent Representative Community Leader

Board Emeriti Joan Beall, Community Leader Beth A. Burns, Founder of The Wooden Floor and Artistic Director (’83-’05) Sharon Hartshorn, Community Leader Richard C. Hunsaker,** President, Hunsaker Management Virginia Hunsaker,** Community Leader Damien M. Jordan, General Manager, Retired, American Funds/ Capital Group Companies, Inc. Yvonne M. Jordan, Community Leader Socorro Vasquez, Community Leader * Executive Committee Members. ** In Memoriam.

T H I S Y E A R F E AT U R I N G A L L 1 0 0 - P O I N T W I N E S !

ORANGE COUNTY’S PREMIER W I N E TA S T I N G BENEFIT

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2022 at 6:00PM Big Canyon Country Club Newport Beach, California

16TH ANNUAL

▫ A fun, strolling blind wine tasting competition ▫ Silent auctions and opportunity drawings ▫ Signature small plates ▫ Giving opportunities ▫ Sharing of student success stories Sponsorships available now

at TheWoodenFloor.org/WineTasting T H I S EV E NT S ELLS OU T EVERY YEA R!

THE WOODEN FLOOR

Supporter Sightings From left: Suzi Chauvel and Tom Kroesche

Inside the Studio March 24, 2022

"Whenever I go to The Wooden Floor, I see a giant box of potential.

Supporters eagerly returned to The Wooden Floor’s Main Street location to gather and spend time together in our courtyard with our students and guest choreographers. The reception provided an opportunity to celebrate the resilience that we’ve shown as a community over the past two years and connect with our mission with a first look at one of the most important events of the year, our 39th Annual Concert: Hope Abounds.

Each and every day, the staff, the teachers, and the students all create such marvelous energy, determination, and joy. It is a distinct blessing for me to be able to help The Wooden Floor graduates achieve their dreams of higher education. It’s been such a pleasure being a part of this mighty and marvelous organization!"

From left: Marilyn McIntyre and Angela Leou

From left: Cindy Ayloush with Board Members Sasha Ayloush and Cath MacIver

Suzi Chauvel, Chauvel Foundation

RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

NONPROFIT US POSTAGE

PAID

SANTA ANA, CA PERMIT NO. 949

1810 North Main Street Santa Ana, CA 92706-2727 714.541.8314 TheWoodenFloor.org

Please Save-the-Date!* We remain hopeful that we will be able to gather at the following events to help propel our students and our mission forward.

39th Annual Concert: Hope Abounds June 2-4, 2022 | 8:00pm nightly plus a 2:30pm Saturday Matinee IRVINE BARCLAY THEATRE

39th Annual Concert: Hope Abounds. Be inspired by our young artists as they perform new works created with leading contemporary dance choreographers.

Arts Night Out June 3, 2022 | 6:45pm IRVINE BARCLAY THEATRE Free bonus for Friday Annual Concert attendees! Make it an Arts Night Out with a pre-concert chat to explore the work in Hope Abounds with the cast and choreographers Falon Baltzell, Kendra Portier, and Christina Robson, moderated by Jennifer Bassage Bonfil, The Wooden Floor’s Dance Education and Curriculum Specialist.

More information at TheWoodenFloor.org/AnnualConcert

16th Annual Keep the Promise Wine Tasting Benefit™ September 15, 2022 | 6:00pm BIG CANYON COUNTRY CLUB, NEWPORT BEACH A fun, strolling blind wine tasting competition this year featuring all 100 point wines! Proceeds help us keep the promise to each of our students: from here, you can step anywhere.

More information at TheWoodenFloor.org/WineTasting *Based on community health conditions at the time.

DanceUp is a trademark of The Wooden Floor.

More information at TheWoodenFloor.org/AnnualConcert