A LEGISLATIVE COMMEMORATION, Commending and honoring Angela Nieman on her Lifetime Achievement award for Dance.

    WHEREAS, Angela Nieman was awarded the Legacy Award a for lifetime achievement at the Americup 2013 National Championship Dance Competition in Minneapolis on February 23, 2013; and

    WHEREAS, Angela began her coaching career in 1990 at Watertown High School. She coached teams to the South Dakota High School State Championships at Watertown High School and Huron High School; and

    WHEREAS, Angela became the head coach at Washington High School in 1997. At Washington High School, Angela coached the Highsteppers to unprecedented consecutive state championship titles from 2000-2006 and again from 2008-2012; and

    WHEREAS, the Highsteppers won High School Grand Champion in 2007 at Americup. At the South Dakota High School state tournament, the Washington High School Highsteppers scored a perfect 300 in the pom division. In 2010, the Highsteppers won the bronze medal in International Hip Hop! Angela Nieman and the Highsteppers have finished in the top ten at Dance Worlds in 2010, 2011, and 2012. In addition to all of the team awards, Angela was elected to the UPA Hall of Fame; and

    WHEREAS, Angela Nieman has coached more wins than any coach in Washington High School's one hundred-plus year history. She also dedicates her time to others and has made it a focus that her teams give back to the community. Through her teams' and her commitment to helping others, she has brought the message about teen bullying. Angela's team has written essays and has visited elementary schools across the community spreading the word that you need to STAND UP, not STAND BY to stop bullying:

    NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT COMMEMORATED, by the Eighty-Eighth Legislature of the State of South Dakota, that Angela Nieman be congratulated and honored on her lifetime achievement for coaching, for her work with the community, and for her encouragement to her students to stand up for others.