Tess Allen

“I knew to get into college I had to stand out,” said the quiet but determined senior from Wayne County Day School. After realizing there were few opportunities for Hispanic children in her hometown, the idea for Hearts for Dance took legs.

“I love dance,” Tess Allen said. “It is a way to portray emotion.”

Tess was born and raised in Goldsboro, N.C. At age three she began to take dance classes.

“I hated it,” she admitted. “But later on I saw a local dance production done by another studio and that’s what really got me interested.” Tess has been dancing ever since. And she does all types of dance: ballet, jazz, tap, hip-hop, lyrical, and contemporary.

“It was hard teaching 12 kids ranging in age from 3-12 because they were on so many different levels,” Tess said.

Despite the difficulties, she gained a lot from planning and leading Hearts for Dance.

“I’ve never met kids who were more grateful,” Tess said. “It’s a week of teaching basic ballet steps but it’s more showing that someone cares.” Tess happily repeated what one grateful mother told her about her two daughters: “They woke up at 6 a.m. because they were so excited to come to camp.”

“They taught me to be grateful for what I have,” she said.

A local dance supply store provided discounted pairs of shoes to the campers. “They were so excited when they were putting them on that it made me realize how lucky I am to have gone through so many pairs of shoes without a single thought,” said Tess.

Tess, who writes for her school newspaper and yearbook, is interested in a career in journalism. She wants to report local news stories or write for a magazine. After doing the camp, she realized she might want to have a career in which she can work with kids.

“If I could do [the camp] every day I would,” said Tess.

Tess’s plans are solid in the short term.

“I want to keep doing this camp for as long as I can, and I’d love for it to be something that goes on for years and years whether I am doing it or someone else picks it up,” Tess said. She is in the process of finalizing her plans for this summer’s camp.

What began as a desire to stand out in the college admissions process is having an impact on Tess’s life in many other ways.

“You can see so much from a child’s perspective,” she said. “They taught me so much.” For Tess Allen, there is no end in sight to the cycle of teaching and learning from underprivileged kids in her community.