Miami Northwestern teacher uses dance to motivate students
For almost two decades, Traci Young-Byron has been at the head of one of Miami's most iconic high school dance troupes, the Miami Northwestern G Girls.
Young-Byron has taught hundreds of students, with many going on to have professional dance careers. Her TikTok videos of the dancers go viral, some have over a million views.
In those clips, you don't often see her, but you can certainly hear her. She's a dance coach taking on the role of a dance mom, cheerleader and their loudest supporter—all in one, rooting on her girls from the sidelines.
Talaiyah Bradley is one of those students. She's a senior at Miami Northwestern Sr. High. She says, "She's been riding me since I was like 7 honestly, so I'm pretty good with it. I like it, it pushes me to where I need to be. It's pushed me to who I am today."
Where Bradley is today is a 4.0 student who will enter college having already earned enough credits to be considered a college junior.
A teacher with a unique perspective
Young-Byron has been leading PAVAC, the Performing and Visual Arts Center Magnet program, for 19 years.
The G Girls are a subset of PAVAC. She's a former student of the program and it's that unique perspective her students say helps her reach them.
Keziah Robinson, also a senior, says it's empowering.
"It's therapy without words. You can express so much through dance—whether you're angry, you're sad, you're happy, you're frustrated—whatever it is, you can leave whatever situation you have at the door of the dance room."
These young women aren't just good in a dance studio; they hit the books equally as hard. Young-Byron boasts that her students have a 99 percent high school graduation, college acceptance and college graduation rate.
Robinson says she wants to be "an automotive design engineer."
Kiayra Stevens, also a senior, says her goal is to one day be "a behavioral analyst for the FBI."
Tough love and lifelong lessons
The students admit that Young-Byron's toughness is what helps them dream big.
Stevens says they know what they're getting is passion. "Some people think Mrs. Young-Byron is a mean person, but she's very passionate about dance."
Young-Byron has been dancing since she was three years old. She says she fell in love with dance at the age of nine and has been teaching since she was 16. Her drive grew out of being told no.
"I call myself my moniker 'Supa Black Girl,' and I think because there's an invisible cape that I wear. I'm a chocolate girl and I know when I grew up, it wasn't deemed as beautiful to be a chocolate Black dancer back in the '90s. So I've taken the things that people have thrown against me and made it something beautiful."
Now, at 45 years old, Young-Byron says seeing her students accomplish their dreams keeps her motivated.
"Everybody's into gentle teaching and parenting. I'm a little old school, so for me, that doesn't really work. But I get on them because I see the potential—sometimes I see things in them they don't see in themselves."
A star-studded alumni roster
Young-Byron's students' résumés are impressive. Her alumni roster includes Broadway performers and backup dancers for Ciara and Beyoncé. She also has dancers who have performed for every major sports team in South Florida, including the Miami Heat, Miami Dolphins cheerleaders, Miami Marlins and Florida Panthers.
