With a bright smile, energetic spirit and kind heart, Melissa Page has become a respected Southlake name over the past two decades. It’s not because of the hardware that populates the Emerald Belles locker room or the team’s time on this season’s “America’s Got Talent.” Melissa draws people in with empathy and a determination to help others.
For the past 27 years, Melissa has acted as a drill team instructor for high school students. Now, in her 23rd year with the Emerald Belles, Melissa takes on a higher calling than high kicks. She is gradually shaping sympathetic leaders who will make the world a better place.
Setting The Stage
Melissa spent her El Campo, Texas, youth developing a passion for dance. After pursuing that on the collegiate level and graduating from Texas State University, Melissa knew she wanted to teach. While other dancers might immediately look for professional roles, Melissa was always drawn to education.
“Right when I got out of college, it was more about me just teaching,” Melissa says. “It’s not always about the perfection of dance. I just always felt like I had a different connection with the kids.”
So she took on a drill team director position in Brenham and started working with young women on their technique. Four years later, the Carroll Emerald Belles job became available, and she jumped at the chance to take on the responsibility.
After meeting with 1997-1998 Emerald Belles captain Erin McFarland, Melissa started to see the team’s potential for growth. Whether it was pushing the officers to try new routines or amp up their costumes, Erin says Melissa didn’t hesitate to make adjustments that bettered the squad.
“We told her about the kinds of routines we like to do — we had never done a lyrical dance because it wasn’t our thing — but Melissa was like, ‘Oh, that’s my favorite thing, and we are going to do it,’” Erin says. “Thanks to her, we won all these awards at competition, and we won top honors for our lyrical routine.”
But it was more than the physical changes. Melissa quickly taught the Emerald Belles to have pride and pleasure with every step of their process.
“She showed us there can be true joy in everything you do,” Erin says.
Leading By Example
Melissa demonstrates how to do that by showing others how much joy the team brings her. Those hours spent choreographing routines, overseeing practice and traveling to games and competitions can be seen as draining, but Melissa doesn’t think of that time as a chore. It’s an investment in her girls and proof of her passion. And her positive outlook, despite the time commitment, builds a strong respect that acts as a foundation for the Emerald Belles.
“It would be different if I was just standing up there and barking out orders,” Melissa says.
Beyond her role as a teacher, she emphasizes being an outlet for anything the girls may need. Whether it is meeting outside of practice to talk about stressors or just offering an open door to her office for those who need a listening ear, Melissa doesn’t think twice about giving more of her time and heart to students in need.
“I am still just as disciplined, but I am kinder in the way that I do it. I just know that everybody is struggling,” Melissa says.
Melissa has always been able to relate to the girls experiencing hardship, but after her son Reed passed away last summer, Melissa could see even clearer that everyone is working through something, which the girls were quick to notice.
The 2017-2018 Emerald Belles captain Molly McKinnon knows she learned more than technique while on the team. “Mrs. Page doesn’t just teach us high kicks,” Molly says. “She has taught us so much about life. It’s how to be kind to one another. It’s how to recognize how to help someone.”
“I think I now have more to give,” Melissa shares. “This past year, I had so many kids that I think would have never talked to me about the things they do now. Because they have seen me go through so much and keep going.”
That perseverance, and continuing kindness through it all, has acted as an educational moment that Melissa’s teams, both past and present, have been able to see up close.
“[The Emerald Belles] knew how difficult it was for me to come in, and I still did, and I was still positive,” Melissa says. “My mother is my angel, and she told me no one can steal your joy. The older I get, the more I realize that.”
With that strong sense of self, Melissa is creating empathetic leaders who can go out and continue her legacy — not only in the dance world but also in their everyday lives.
“I don’t get mad about a lot of stuff, but the one thing that I will not tolerate is if you don’t treat each other right,” Melissa says. “My older girls know that. They know how I do things, they know what I expect and they know how I treat them. That creates a ripple effect.”
Rippling Out To Others
The Emerald Belles have built a legacy under Melissa Page’s leadership. With alums doing everything from teaching dance at adjacent schools and dancing professionally to leading TED talks and starting businesses, it’s safe to say Emerald Belles continue to thrive after graduating from Carroll.
Karis Van, the 2007-2008 Emerald Belles captain, is now the Colleyville Heritage High School drill team director. By drawing on those impactful Carroll experiences, Karis hopes to recreate the direction Melissa provided.
“She is just a positive role model for all her girls because she is so relatable,” Karis says. “She was able to help me grow as a leader, and I still use her as a mentor every single day.”
Karis says that she often stops when an issue comes up with a dancer or a parent and asks, “WWMPD: What Would Melissa Page Do?” That foundational leadership reminds Karis just how impactful compassion can be for others.
Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader All-Star and 2012-2014 Emerald Belles captain Lacey Munoz also credits Melissa for her success.
“I owe so much of where I am today to Melissa Page and the [Emerald Belles] program,” Lacey says. “Those were some of the best and most educating years of my life, and I truly cherish that team.”
While Melissa says she was proud to watch Lacey dancing on the NFL sidelines, she was especially proud to hear about how others perceived Lacey’s character.
“I know [Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader director] Kelli Finglass because I have worked with the [Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders] on their high kicks, and they just rave about Lacey,” Melissa says. “They say she’s so disciplined, but they also compliment how she treats people, how people like her and how she is kind.”
And while the list of successful girls goes on — like how Molly is currently pursuing a career in dance in Las Vegas — Melissa is more proud of the kinds of people the Emerald Belles alums have become.
This football season, Melissa started the #BeKindBeABelle award, handed out at every football game. On top of awarding one of her girls for dance ability, Melissa started giving the girls the chance to nominate one of their teammates they saw doing something for someone else in that past week. It could be as small as helping someone carry another person’s books down the hall or tutoring a fellow classmate. Melissa just wanted to continuously encourage the girls to live for others.
“I love awarding what I want our culture to be,” Melissa says. “But it’s also reminding them daily to do something for someone else because we never know what people are going through.”
While Melissa says it’s still hard to say goodbye to seniors year after year, she says it’s always fun to see what her former students can accomplish in their next stages of life. And she’s happy to see when that light she shares with them goes on to better others and stretch out the ripple effect.
“Ever since I was a little freshman, I was like, ‘I want to be like her some day,’” Molly says. “Our legacy as a team is incredible, and we would not be the team we are if it weren’t for the effort she puts in. She doesn’t just shape dancers. She shapes leaders. She shapes girls who go on and do amazing things, not only as dancers but as people.”
For all this and so much more, Southlake Style is proud to award our 2019 Brian R. Stebbins Award For Community Impact to Melissa Page. We could all work on being a little more like Melissa. But thanks to Melissa’s guiding light, she’s inspiring more girls to make Southlake a better place, one Emerald Belle at a time.
Emilee Prado