Unveiling the Arts of Ms. Mickey
“Ms. Mickey’s career and life-long journey has brought her students more than just the ability to dance; she has brought principles and life lessons taught in various ways, such as the importance of giving students a voice. She has shown students how worthy and powerful their voices can be even though they might view them as insignificant, due to the issue of how most young people struggle with insecurities.”
You may know Ms. Mickey as the dance instructor. The memorable but unique staff member that many here at CSH can agree on loving. When entering a classroom full of art and individuality to express your creativity within the limits of dance, it gives us as students a deeper sense of self-expression. But where did it all start?
Mikala Sakai started off her dancing career at 6 years old with ballet and tap dancing. This continued on until 5th grade until she decided to take a break from dance. As her Mother was also a dancer and did modern dance, she decided to introduce young Mikala into the world of dance.
Entering high school, Ms. Mickey still didn't really know what she wanted to do. She did still have a passion for dance but the things available were not an interest for her. Then one day, she discovered hip hop and immediately fell in love because of her cheerleading coach. This is what made her realize that she had discovered her passion for art (specifically urban art). She stated that this “made me feel like I discovered a part of myself.” After highschool she continued dancing, but it wasn't a full time thing, since she didn’t prioritize it as much. She did, however, dance in a college group known as ‘Culture Shock”
In 2000, Ms. Mickey started working at a non-profit organization for the youth. As a trainer she still had a lot to learn, as she only acted as an overseer for dance classes in the organization and never really choreographed an actual dance. Until one day her students really needed support and that's where Ms. Mickey decided to step in and take it a step further. In 2003, she decided to take that dream and implement it and started to take 12 classes per week.
Soon after, she found a job at City University of New York (CUNY) as an education director. Since dance was still a side thing for her, it grew throughout time and definitely was something she was more involved in than the years prior. She claims one of her struggles in leaving the workforce was the loss of stability. But another challenge she had faced was bookings. She states that you can dance for 20, 30 or even 40 years and still not get the part, since most agencies would rather choose people who look the part.
In 2014, she saw a job posting for a charter school on LinkedIn. This school was looking for a dance teacher and Mikala decided to take the part and show her skills as the dancer she was for many years. This is where Mikala became Ms. Mickey. Not only was it exciting that she got to do dance full time, but she also found her love for education at this workplace!
4 years later, She got referred to Comp Sci High and decided to start a dance class, as she felt that it was needed, especially knowing that hip hop dance wasn't such a common thing taught in schools.
Some might know Ms. Mickey only as a CSH staff member, others as the dance teacher and the founder of Fearless Vizion, but who is she outside all of this? As said previously she is the founder of a non-profit dance organization which is a major key aspect of her life, taking her dedication and time. In addition she has the loving company of her small but devoted family, as well as friends that she can call part of her family. As a dancer you may guess she goes to the club and dances 24/7, right? Well surprisingly, this isn’t the case. She enjoys binge watching Netflix, playing board games, and spending quality time with her loved ones. Surprising, right!
Ms. Mickey’s career and life-long journey has brought her students more than just the ability to dance; she has brought principles and life lessons taught in various ways, such as the importance of giving students a voice. She has shown students how worthy and powerful their voices can be even though they might view them as insignificant, due to the issue of how most young people struggle with insecurities. One of her other priorities for her students is to have the self assurance they’ll need in this world, most especially the ability to know that whatever goals they desire, they are able to accomplish with dedication. Alongside the importance of confidence, Ms. Mickey depicts the power of self reflection and room for growth. And lastly, Ms. Mickey strives to develop the skill of creativity, bringing individual ideas to life during the art of dancing. Most importantly, her goal for her students is as follows: “I want to see these students progress as human beings, not only as dancers, and that's my vision.”
Throughout Ms. Mickey’s influence here at CSH, one of the main ways she has impacted us here at CSH with her role of teaching dance, and with all these lives worthy of care, is with her creation of CSH’s dance team “Fearless Vizion.” Her main purpose of this team was to create a legacy of a team that will continue to grow. And the team has grown — starting off a group of 7 to now having 21 members. One of the students from the CSH community who's currently a senior, Osiris, states that “Ms. Mickey shaped me to become a confident person.” She believes that it made her overcome insecurities and made her feel like she can do anything. She goes on to describe Ms. Mickey as a person who's fearless, confident, open minded, caring and fun! Osiris sees Mickey as a big sister and a role model for her to aspire too.
We also interviewed Destiny Francis, one of the captains of Fearless Vizion. While interviewing Destiny, she described the realization of her deep connection with Ms. Mickey during the FV retreat, the stage where FV as a group bonds, creates relationships, and develops the skill of teamwork. During this time she stated “I connected to Ms. Mickey based on a personal experience that I rather not share which really made me acknowledge the background of teachers rather than just seeing them as a superior.” She described the way Ms. Mickey's influence impacted her as a person: “Through her encouragement and support, I've learned to approach challenges as opportunities for growth rather than setbacks. Her belief in my abilities has inspired me to stay resilient, even when things get difficult, and to always strive for improvement, whether it's in academics, personal goals, or my relationships with others.”
Lastly we will talk about Ms. Mickey’s “dance daughter,” Bree Moore. During our conversation, Bree described her indestructible and beautiful relationship she has with Ms. Mickey and the story behind it. It all started when she met Ms. Mickey in 5th grade when she chose to take dance class. During this class she always found herself isolated at the back, until Ms. Mickey saw her struggle and gave words of encouragement leading to building confidence, even though she doubted herself in the past when it came to her passion for dancing.
When asking Bree the question on the way Ms. Mickey impacted her as a person, she stated: “She's been a great role model and continues to be a great one even to this day. She's been there for me everyday even if it doesn’t have anything to do with dance itself — life issues, family issues, friends, relationships, academics, everything.” Ultimately when asking her the way she would describe Ms. Mickey, she said: “Mickey is like superwoman! In my eyes she can take on the world. She loves all of her students, she stays up for hours creating choreography, planning trips, shows, cutting music for shows. She’ll come into class with no voice sometimes just to show up for her students, she’s unstoppable and the most caring person in the world.”
From Ms. Mickey’s humble beginnings to current times, there’s a strong pattern in her resilience and pushing forward even throughout her difficult times. Not only does this show Ms. Mickey as a person who keeps pushing forward and following dreams, but it also shows this mindset she’s putting on her students, which is a very healthy mindset to really grasp and hold onto that will help you navigate life.