The Spirit of Napa High

Excellence, Leadership and a Lasting Dance Legacy

By Kathleen Reynolds

The Napa High School Spiritleaders have earned 40 national titles, eight Grand National titles and four international titles. The numbers alone tell a story of excellence, but for Hollie Johnson, the Artistic Director of the Dance Department and Spiritleader Program, the true measure of success reaches beyond trophies. Hollie will retire at the end of the school year after 35 years of teaching, and she says her greatest pride comes from the lives her dancers have shaped and the community they continue to build.

“When people ask me what I am the proudest of they’re surprised to hear it’s not the national titles,” says Hollie. “Each of them was an incredible experience and memory I will cherish forever with each team, coaches and their family with whom I experienced it. However, I am most proud of what my alumni have gone on to do and the quality humans they have become.”

Her alumni remain closely connected to the program and to one another. Hollie describes them

as a family that continues to grow with each graduating class. “Eight alumni are on professional teams right now, in the NBA, the NFL and the WNBA. They all come back and contribute. Two of them were here last week and they taught this year’s team some routines for the year. Alumni will send video tapes, phone messages and write letters before we go to Nationals, so it’s a huge family that we’ve created.”

The stories she shares reveal how deeply the program has influenced her students. One young man left Napa High for UCLA with plans to become a lawyer. Instead, he discovered a passion for teaching and took a job at one of the underserved schools in East Los Angeles. His work made such an impact that he was featured on Los Angeles television for creating a folkloric dance company so remarkable that the school built him a performing arts center and he was named Teacher of the Year in 2019 and 2023. Another student arrived at Napa High with a 1.4 grade point average and arrived with limited English-language skills. Hollie encouraged her to keep working hard. By her senior year she had a 4.0, became homecoming queen and later went on to become Los Angeles Businesswoman of the Year.

“I am proudest of my alumni that they have gone on to spread their joy, their love of dance and the work that they’ve learned to make the world a better place,” Hollie says.

The Spiritleaders are equally known for their academic excellence. The average grade point average for the team is 3.86, which means that half of the dancers earn a 4.0 or higher.

“They have gone on to be doctors, lawyers and nurses,” Hollie says. “They have an incredible work ethic that carries over to their academic lives. They also love community service and every year help at events. When the community sees them on the floor doing flawless routines they don’t realize that they’re also the top students in their classes, serve in their community and fundraise every penny for every trip.”

Hollie is clear that the Spiritleaders are athletes. “It’s a year-round sport and there’s no arguing that they are athletes for 12 months out of the year when other sports may be 8 to twelve weeks. They train every single month through the summer and that’s why they can compete against the best in the country.”

She does not add, “and win,” but the record makes the point for her.

The team’s ability to adapt under pressure is one of the qualities Hollie admires most. She explains that during national competitions, which last four days, the dancers listen to judges’ feedback. There have been times when the team has changed a third of its routine at midnight, then taken the stage at 8:00 the next morning in front of 5,000 people. They have gone from third place to first place in a matter of hours. Hollie says the experience teaches problem solving, quick thinking and a deep sense of community.

Becoming a Spiritleader is not easy. Tryouts take place on a weekend in early June at the end of the school year. Many students have attended Napa High youth clinics or trained at private studios before high school. The program also offers summer dance intensives with top choreographers from Los Angeles and San Francisco.

“We teach them the routine first and then they come back for tryouts a week later. They’re not judged on how well or poorly they did in the learning part of the tryouts. When they come back after practicing the routine, we have professional judges; we don’t judge them ourselves. This year, we had a 49er Gold Rush member and two Warrior girls who scored them.”

Hollie emphasizes that dancers who do not make the team still have a place in the Napa High School dance department. “The nice thing is that if they don’t make the team they have a home in the Napa high school dance department. If a dancer doesn’t make the team, we place them at the level for which they qualify: Dance One, Two, or Three, so they still get to be part of our dance family. That’s what’s most important to me. They can try out the following year and many of them do.”

Teacher recommendation points are also part of the process. Spiritleaders participate in community service events and also visit local businesses to request donations for their program so their teacher points are very heavily weighed.

“I’d rather work with someone with high character and moderate talent than someone that’s extremely talented but doesn’t follow classroom rules and isn’t a good role model for other students. That formula has worked very well through the years. We look for Spiritleaders with high character and a good work ethic.”

Freshmen do make the team, even with the rigorous tryouts. One of them is Ruby Kinyon, who explains why she wanted to become a Spiritleader.

“The main reason was from watching the older girls when I was younger and seeing not only that they were great dancers, but also how much of a loving community it is,” says Ruby. “Any time I would talk to a Spiritleader, they were nothing but kind and genuinely curious about my questions. Now that I am part of such a community, I’ve come to appreciate it even more. What I have gained from being on the team is that I have sixteen new friends, tons of supportive teachers and a million new memories. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

The head coach of the Spiritleaders and Co-Director of the Napa High Dance Department is Rylee Pippert, who is also Hollie’s daughter.

“Rylee has done a phenomenal job and is leading the charge as head coach,” Hollie says. “She’s the one who is hands-on, running practices and doing choreography, picking music, themes, coming up with costumes and more. She’s a six-time National dancer herself and she graduated from the University of Hawai’i at Manoa with her dance degree and was a member of their dance team. She also teaches dance classes here and at a studio. She’s the former dance teacher at Harvest Middle School and Napa Valley Language Academy.”

Hollie has one more year and one more semester before she retires. She reflects on why dance matters.

“I think dance gives teenagers a much-needed outlet, makes them feel connected to their school and gives them discipline, teaches teamwork, leadership and problem solving. A lot of the academic teachers have sent me emails and say that problem solving and dealing with pressure transfers into their own classes.”

“The team’s success is all because of our village. We have incredible choreographers, music editors, multiple passionate coaches, a head coach who is dedicated and all the parents who help make the spiritleader dream a reality. It’s a true blessing to be able to finish out my career side by side with my very talented daughter.”