NAMPA, Idaho — BrekLynn Pancheri is a senior at Skyview High School in Nampa. She was crowned Miss Idaho's Teen over the summer. She's also a cheerleader, a dancer, an author, and she loves to work with children with special needs. Pancheri is taking all those passions and making a big difference in our community, she is this week's 7s Hero.
Pancheri has been dancing since she was just three years old. As Miss Idaho's teen, she wanted to start a community service initiative that's close to her heart. That's exactly what she did. She recently created a free dance camp for kids with disabilities, it's called Special Steps.
"So, it's a camp for all special needs children where they can come and dance for free," she said. "Just a place that they can come and feel loved and included."
"I decided to make my own organization and mix two things I'm super passionate about which would be special needs children and dance," she said. The age range is anything from 8 to 18. It's held at the SPOT, I dance here so the studio owner was kind enough to let me use some space. So, they'll come in, we'll do a little get to know you. Then we'll stretch and we'll learn all five of the different ballet positions, we'll learn different steps and poses and do a little dance and just have a lot of fun."
Rosie Rasmussen is one of those students, she is a 14-year-old.
"I really like the class because I have a lot of fun with my friends and stuff," Rasmussen said.
Quinnley Williams, an 8-year-old, is also in the class, her mom said she just loves to dance.
"It's so great, she loves the outlet of dance to express herself. It's fun that she gets to dance with kids like her, and it is fun and uplifting for her," said Samanda Williams, Quinnley's mom.
"BrekLynn is amazing, she's a blessing and she's great at what she does and she's patient and fun for the kids to look up to," Williams said.
BrekLynn is also getting her friends and family involved with her nonprofit. More volunteers mean more one on one attention to the dancers.
"I love just seeing how happy they are and their smiles, it makes it all so rewarding," BrekLynn said. "It makes me really happy."
BrekLynn has one more thing to add to her impressive resume, she's also a published author. She wrote a book about inclusivity, and she's been visiting local schools and reading it to classrooms. The book is called Darla and Belle Becoming Best Friends. The money earned will go to funding the extras for her dance camps.
Her family said they are so proud of her, just ask her dad, Garrett Pancheri.
"Within a few days of being crowned Miss Idaho's teen, she was out at the VA doing a veterans appreciation fair. Going to work and just serving her community. I couldn't be more proud, I love her so much, I couldn't be more proud and the amount of love she has for other people shocks me and blows me away," Garrett Pancheri said.
BrekLynn said she has big dreams for Special Steps.
"The more classes the better, in my opinion. I'd love to have different classes and get enough students to have multiple classes a month, which would be awesome. I just love it so much and I can't wait to grow it. I'll go from there and keep pushing it hopefully for years and years," she said.
BrekLynn is hoping more students sign up for her free classes. You can reach out to her on social media on Instagram and Facebook.
As for her book, you can buy it on Amazon now.
BrekLynn will compete for the title of miss America's Teen in at the end of December.