Volunteer Spotlight

By Cameron Meyferth and Bethany Seavers Templeton

Cameron Meyferth

My name is Cameron Meyferth, and I have served as a copy editor for Sheer Dance since December 2015. I read every article of each month's issue to check for spelling, grammar, format, and consistency.

My journey into both ballroom dancing and copy editing began my sophomore year in Fall 2013 at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. I joined the Luther College Ballroom & Swing competitive team and began working as a copy editor at Chips, Luther College's student-run newspaper. As a member of the ballroom team I competed at competitions around the Iowa-Minnesota area, including Minnesota Ballroom Blast, Dance Fest, Iowa Dancesport Classic, and Cyclone Ballroom Classic. In addition to the position of copy editor at Luther College Chips, I also worked as head copy editor, managing editor, and layout and design technician.

After I graduated in May 2016 with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, I followed my partner Bethany to Houston, Texas, where she has achieved her lifelong dream of becoming an elementary school teacher and I am working toward becoming an educator myself. Since moving to Houston, we have competed in the Houston Dancesport Classic and the Rice University Dances with Owls. We are both excited to see where our lives and our love for ballroom dancing take us in the future.

Bethany Seavers Templeton

I’m Bethany Seavers Templeton, and I have been serving as a copy editor for Sheer Dance since December of 2015. As a copy editor, I was one of the first people to see the raw, rough content every month. I looked at every word to ensure correct spelling and style. I also made the editors aware of anything that did not make sense, so they would contact the writer for clarification. It was fun to read everything that eventually made it into the magazine each week. I was so happy to read so many perspectives on ballroom dance.

I went to school at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, where I was on the ballroom dance team for four years. When I was twelve years old, I saw the movie Shall We Dance? and instantly fell in love with ballroom dance. I remember turning to my mom and telling her I was going to do that someday. I soaked up every bit of ballroom I could; DVDs with basic instruction, a six-week course at church, a Dancing with the Stars video game...anything that had anything to do with ballroom, I was all over it. When I finally got the chance to be on a team and actually learn it all, it definitely felt like a dream come true. Being on the ballroom dance team at Luther was by far the highlight of my college years.

While at Luther, I also served as copy editor for Chips: The Student Newspaper of Luther College. I started in the second semester of my sophomore year, and continued all the way through my time at Luther. It was because of this experience that I decided to become a copy editor for Sheer.

Since graduating college, I moved down to Houston, Texas with Cameron Meyferth. We have competed in two ballroom competitions since moving down. I completed my student teaching in January of this year, and began a teaching job in first grade in February (another dream come true for me). I have been battling the physical and mental exhaustion that comes with being a first-year teacher, so ballroom dance has taken a little backburner for the time-being. Though, I know I’ll find a time and place for it soon.

I have loved my time at Sheer, and I know there is a strong team of editors to keep it moving forward. Thank you to everyone on the Sheer team for dealing with our long-distance work for so long. It has been a pleasure.