Today we’d like to introduce you to Brittany Kernohan.
Hi Brittany, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Dance has just about always been apart of my life. At three years old I fell in love with ballet after watching Miami City Ballet perform the Nutcracker. I started taking lessons soon after and never stopped. I had strong desires even as a young child to dance, build a school and share my love of dance with others. After high school I attended New World School of the Arts and graduated with my BFA. I stated Selah Academy not long after graduating. I received a phone call from someone looking for a dance teacher for a small group of homeschoolers – I was homeschooled all the way through high school so had strong connections to the South Florida homeschool community. That grew into what is now Selah Academy.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Nothing worth chasing I guess is ever really smooth because there wouldn’t be the need to grow past the obstacle. The transition of being the primary person completing all of the operational roles to letting go and hiring well qualified teachers, office managers, administrators, etc., was definitely apart of some growing pains.
As you know, we’re big fans of Selah Academy. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Selah Academy is a dance school specifically geared for homeschoolers in South Florida. All of our classes occur during the daytime from 9am-3pm, Monday thru Friday. We sublease space from existing dance studios since we conduct classes during the day and operate out of two schools, in East and West Davie. We focus on classical ballet but offer other forms of dance as well. We have two divisions, a Student Division and a Pre-Professional Division for the more serious dancer interested in a possible career in dance.
I love that through dance we can express what can not be verbalized – dance is beauty in motion. A form of expression is incredibly important, especially for children. Our mission at Selah is, to change lives through dance. Wether the student becomes a professional dancer or not, is not our end goal. Of course creating professional dancers is part of our mission, but I desire for even more than that. My hope is to nurture the student’s development of self discipline, determination and passion, through dance. My goal is that these and other fundamentals grow deeply rooted, so that by the time they move on from Selah they can flourish in whatever endeavors they choose.
I believe in the life changing power of dance so much that I have also founded Selah’s Song, a 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated to providing tuition assistance to student’s experiencing financial hardships.
We are trying to remove financial objection so that we can help facilitate dance education, because a child with a goal and something to strive for, can eventually change the world. Ballet is beautiful. Classical music is beautiful. All the lessons you learn through ballet, now that is life changing.
How do you define success?
One life changed or impacted for the good.
Pricing:
- Classes start at $70 a month
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.selahacademy.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/selahacademy/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/studioselah/
Image Credits
Photographer – Mark Schermeister
