After weeks or even months of practice, their hard work becomes a reality when the marching band plays their first note. The bright lights and the loud music highlight a familiar yet exciting experience for this group. Miami Palmetto Senior High houses a variety of teams and organizations, from national honor societies to sports teams to dance groups; yet, one smaller, lesser-known group aims to stand out — the Chatonettes.
Typically seen accompanying cheerleaders and the marching band, the Chatonettes can be recognized by their flashy costumes and extravagant dance routines. Responsible for encouraging MPSH’s sports teams and hyping up crowds, the Chatonettes are a staple of school spirit. Chatonettes can be spotted at many sports games or events, but what are they truly about?
The Chatonettes are a group of 14 girls who strive to spread school spirit. They each value teamwork, collaboration and consistently communicate to overcome challenges and make up a team filled with passionate girls—each with a story to tell.
Senior Class President, Rebecca Panagakos auditioned for the Chatonettes at the end of her sophomore year after becoming intrigued by what once was a mysterious group of dancers. Determined to learn more, Panagakos joined the team and soon learned the personal value of becoming a Chatonette.
“I had never heard of the Chatonettes…I had seen them dancing and it looked fun…So I immediately said, ‘Hey, what are you guys?’ and they said, ‘We’re the Chatonettes,’” Panagakos said. “So, I tried out. It’s a very accepting, open club, and no experience was required, I was in. Everybody starts out pretty rough and definitely grows with time. Not one person has stayed at the same level, everybody grows throughout the months.”
Joining the Chatonettes sparked improvement for each member, from communication and creativity to dancing.
Senior Taliah Brown joined the Chatonettes after discovering their Instagram account. Realizing that the Chatonettes primarily dance, Brown took the opportunity to audition and pursue her passion: dancing and performing. Now, Brown plays a large role in Chatonette performances; she choreographs dance routines and encourages other members to pitch in.
“When we know that we have a performance coming up, we pick the songs, I make up dances and they give ideas, the whole team, whatever comes to our mind, we just make it up and put it together,” Brown said.
Dance routines are essential for the Chatonettes —it is the key to evoking school spirit and inviting inspiration into the group. To the Chatonettes, preparing for a game is no simple matter.
“We know we have to have energy for the game, so we prepare ourselves beforehand – with energy,” Panagakos said.
Motivating one another and working together pays off for the Chatonettes. The reward? Performing and seeing smiles and hearing cheers across a crowd.
Many of the Chatonettes joined the group to ignite or follow their passion for performing, and junior Alasia Cartwright is no exception.
“Taliah had texted me one day and told me to try out, and I was just like, ‘Oh yes, this is my escape.’ When I’m here, it gets me away from all the things in the outside world,” Cartwright said.
Although a small group, the Chatonettes do not let their size stop them from reaching for the stars: the group hopes to recruit more future members, gain more funding and learn new techniques such as rifle and sword tossing. Even while facing challenges such as funding themselves, the Chatonettes push themselves for the benefit of not only the team but the entire student body.
“The Chatonettes is a great group and a great experience, and it is very fun…because we are different than other clubs. We can dance, we can do pep rallies, hip-hop, jazz, and we do flags and rifles and anything else that can come our way,” junior and Chatonette Hazel Jiro said. “We don’t really take a challenging thing that comes our way and just shut it down, we always try to figure out what we would do and we make our challenges become something bigger and better.”
Running any small group without an established leader may be complicated, but the Chatonettes have learned the importance of unison through their setbacks. Facing difficulties as a team enabled the group of girls to become a tight-knit community, and together, they work toward their goals of improving the team and preparing for performances.
“A challenge from not having a coach is discipline, honestly. We have a lot of freedom in what we do, but we know there’s a time to play and a time to get serious,” Panagakos said. ”We’ve really just taken charge on our own…we’ve worked on it ourselves. We knew if nobody had to do it for us, we had to do it for us.”
Aside from cooperating, the Chatonettes also work alongside the marching band during performances and preparation for the football season. During the last two weeks of summer — a time that some students may use for relaxation and last-minute vacations — the Chatonettes and the marching band return to MPSH to prepare for the upcoming school year and organize future performances. The rigorous practices with each other and the marching band illustrate what is essential for a successful performance: formation.
“Marching band [and the Chatonettes] is not a one-man sport, like maybe chess or tennis. This is definitely teamwork. If people aren’t trying to act like it’s a team, you’re not gonna get the results we’ve been working for,” Panagakos said.
The Chatonettes express their creativity in not only their dances, but also their hand-crafted costumes. Hoping to upgrade their uniform, the Chatonettes each helped with their materials, ideas and funds to create new outfits for the group — one of their many achievements.
“…We thought the jerseys weren’t cutting it…and we wanted to go to the next level. We wanted to up our game…we took the necessary steps and said ‘Let’s go, we wanna be better, we can be better,’ Panagakos said. “So we all combined our outfits, we had to use the resources we had, we all pitched in to get the materials, we created them ourselves, worked all of Band Camp on them and more after that…we wanted more. The only way we were gonna get that was by ourselves because we don’t have a coach. We are our own coaches.”
Together, the Chatonettes have overcome challenges, surpassed their goals and set new goals. Each girl has shown utmost dedication and passion toward the Chatonettes, working with one another to establish unity. Although they have had difficulties, they acknowledge them while setting out to find solutions.
“Because without having a coach, as teenage girls, we try our hardest to look put together and a lot is gonna go into that. I feel like we’ve gotten close because of all the practices we’ve spent together. We were a small group for a while, and now this year we’re blessed to have a lot more girls come, to have a bigger team,” Panagakos said.
The Chatonettes prioritize motivating each other — this way, they can elevate performances and support the group.
“The team is very interactive with each other, and we’re very determined to make this team better, amen to that, and we have a lot of encouragement,” junior Chesidy Lightburn said.
With their iconic, yet personal and humorous team motto — “Everybody wanna be a Chat,” the girls set the energy for their dances as they walk out into the fields that foster an environment in which they thrive: bright lights, a deafening crowd and eagerness in the atmosphere.
“[My favorite part of being in the group] is the good times, the laughter. The Chatonettes will make anything funny. We don’t have many low points, I just think we’re joyous. We’re very joyous people,” Panagakos said.
