‘She did amazing work’: Students remember dance coach who drowned at Killeen motel

KILLEEN, Texas (KWTX) - Those who knew 38-year-old Dawn Bennett, who tragically drowned at the Shilo Inn last Friday, are remembering the woman as a gifted dance coach who moved her community.

Bennett grew up in Killeen and attended Manor Middle school and later Ellison High School.

“She did amazing work in dance,” Bennett’s childhood friend, Brandi Woodard, said. “We would all gather around her at recess and she would just do back flips until she got tired. I remember she got to 18.”

Her flips eventually landed her spots with the Dallas Mavericks and the Houston Rockets dance teams.

Then she turned her talents into teaching and became coach of the Silver Stars Dance team at Shoemaker High School in Killeen.

“Shoemaker has never placed top 10 in any competition ever,” Bennett’s former student, Jahyla Farmer said. “She was from Killeen and was like I’m going to turn this program around.”

“She was like it’s going to have to be hard work and we’re going to have to work hard this year. But she knew from the jump that we could handle that hard work.”

Farmer had Bennett as a dance coach in the 2016-2017 school year. A strong bond, since this was the first year at Shoemaker High School for both of them. Coach Bennett sparkled with words of encouragement to Farmer, her only freshman on the varsity team.

“Don’t give up,” Farmer said. “No matter how hard things get just stick it. Just keep dancing through everything that you do. If you’re going through something make sure that you dance it out.”

Coach Bennett cared so much for her students, she even stepped in to buy a suit for her senior student Antoine Purnell so he could go to prom.

“I wouldn’t have been able to experience prom if it wasn’t for her,” Purnell said. “It was honestly something I’m still so grateful for today and something my parents are very grateful to her for.”

A legacy she leaves behind on and off the dance floor.

“She just impacted my life so much,” Farmer said, tearing up. “Oh man, she was definitely that coach.”

Coach Bennett only worked in Killeen ISD for the 2016-2017 school year.

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