ASHLEY STAPLETON / Scroll Bethany Hansen smiles as her Modern Dance students finish a run-through of the dance they are practicing. The class goes as follows (l to r): Hansen; Lindsey Rigby, a freshman from Pocatello, Idaho; Trina Parkinson, a freshman from Boise; Shayla Perry, a sophomore from Idaho Falls; Emily McKeen, a freshman from Milton, Wash.; and Rachele Christensen, a sophomore from Idaho Falls.

A Different Competition

Two BYU-I dance instructors balance demands of family, working life

by Heidi Robinson WHE99003@BYUI.EDU Scroll Staff

Part of the divine roll of a mother is to teach.

Bethany Hansen and Wendy Bone are both mothers who teach dance at BYU-Idaho. Bone is a mother of four, and Hansen is less than two months away from the birth of her second child. Both said they love their jobs. They also understand the magnitude of their calling as a mother, and no matter what the situation, Bone says it’s her family that’s “first priority.”

When asked if it was a difficult decision to work while raising their children, both women agreed that it wasn’t. They said that they wouldn’t feel they were strengthening their talent by not sharing it with others.

“I feel like I have a calling to teach those students,” Bone said. “I’ve been blessed with this gift and I feel like it would be selfish not to share it.”

“I’ve always wanted to teach,” Hansen said. “The whole reason I went to school was to teach.”

Both women have husbands who support them in their desire to teach.

“I’m lucky that my husband is with my daughter when I’m not there,” Hansen said.

Bone admits it is a “juggling act” to raise four children. “But,” she said, “I don’t do it alone. Their dad is real supportive. He has his nights where he cooks and bathes. He’s a real hands-on dad.” She calls her husband the “super-dad.”

Hansen replied, “the most rewarding aspect of teaching is when I see a student improve.” She admits there is nothing more rewarding as a mother than when her daughter wraps her arms around her and tells her she loves her. “The unconditional love of a child is amazing,” she said.

Bone said she felt the same.

“When you see your children succeed it is such a rewarding feeling,” she said. And as for her students “The more I teach the more the students feel like my own kids. I feel so proud.”

“My mom was the only person that believed in me. She was the one who kept me going. She is the most loving and caring woman I know,” Hansen said.

“I didn’t have a father in the home,” Bone said. “So everything I do is based on how my mother raised me. She made so many sacrifices — financially, emotionally and spiritually — to help me develop this gift to dance and choreograph.”

“Teaching and being a mom are both the hardest and the most rewarding things you can do with your life,” Hansen said. “I’m just glad I can do both.”