ATA Leadership NOW
VIP Zone
Training with other leaders taught me how to set and achieve my goals. As a member, I even earned a college scholarship! Look out world, here I come!
From ATA World Volume 19, Number 2 - Summer 2012
How are ATA students inspiring and entertaining large audiences? Here are just a few who’ve hit it big time in mass media recently:
Consider Lydia and Daniel Wade (2nd Degree and 3rd Degree
Black Belts respectively) and their ATA schoolmate Black Belt Amy
Nicholson, who
have been performing at Lyric Opera of Chicago. Lydia and Amy appeared in
Mozart’s The Magic Flute and all three performed in Aida. They performed as
supernumeraries – additional actors necessary to put on the story of the opera.
They may just be teenagers, but their auditions allowed them to display the
focus, discipline and attitude necessary for a national opera stage. Says their
dad, Jim, who owns Karate for Kids in Franklin Park, Ill., with his wife Marcy,
“Without a doubt, we know ATA Taekwondo training was one of the reasons our kids
did so well in rehearsals and performances.”
Kaitlyn Mulder was featured
on the Lifetime Channel series Coming Home. Her dad, Joseph, was serving in the
U.S. Navy during her 2nd Degree testing. Producers filmed her testing in Hawaii,
in a partnership with Pride Martial Arts of Chula Vista, Calif., and Traditional
Taekwondo Center in Honolulu. When it came time for her to be presented with her
new belt, cameras caught the big surprise: her dad holding the belt! You can
watch the segment Coming Home: Karate Surprise at
mylifetime.com/shows/cominghome. Make sure you have some tissues handy.
Black Belt Jessica Cox, who was born with no arms, studies Taekwondo at the
University of Arizona ATA Club – Young’s Black Belt Academy, and was featured on
the show Beyond Belief on the Oprah Winfrey Network because she is the only
person in the world to fly a plane with no hands. Follow her amazing story at
her website: rightfooted.com.
Everywhere they go, Songahm students
exhibit confidence, commitment and joy – and inspire others!
