When Kayla Levin arrived at Mercer Island High School four years ago, she was a shy freshman.
After jumping into the drill-team realm, she became more outgoing and quickly connected with students on campus.
Fast-forward to today, Levin is a senior leader on the team in a captain role along with fellow senior Vaiva Raisys. The duo helped pave the 24-girl squad’s path to the district competition the first weekend of March with a second-place finish in the military category in an event at Redmond High School.
“We are incredibly competitive as a team,” said Levin, adding that the girls rigorously train about four days a week from 6:15-7:40 a.m. They work on new choreography, routines and build body strength so they can be in top-notch shape to perform throughout the year.
Levin, who served as a lieutenant last year, gave some insight into her drill-team world: “Not only have I learned to love all the girls on the team and find some fast friends, I’ve also gained a lot of leadership experience and confidence within myself and my ability to perform.”
Since the age of 3, Levin has been involved in dancing and competitions, and she was thrilled to continue moving to the music with drill team when she entered high school. She has an ever-growing love for dance and spreading it throughout the community.
Dance may be on her docket in college, where she hopes to major in media studies or graphic design.
The Reporter asked Levin a series of questions to get a behind-the-scenes glimpse into her life:
What super power would you like to have?
Super strength or the ability to talk to animals.
If they were to make a movie about you, who would play your character?
Over quarantine, my family, actually, we made a cast list of our family. Mine was, she plays Alexis Rose (Annie Murphy) in “Schitt’s Creek.”
If you’re having a bad day at school or in general, what’s the best way to break out of it to turn it into a positive?
It would either be dancing because that has always been my outlet, or just watching TV or watching some sort of heartfelt Disney movie.
What’s a hidden talent that you have that maybe somebody wouldn’t know about?
Drawing. I’m a decent artist.
What type of music do you listen to?
My favorite artist right now is Adele. Definitely some country music would be my favorite other than Adele.
If you started a band, what would the name of the band be?
Bounce.
If you could go to dinner with one person, who would that be?
Ben Platt. I think that would be very cool.
The Mercer Island High School drill team recently qualified for the district competition. Courtesy photo
