Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Arts & Culture
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Arts & Culture

Corcoran High School student awarded SU dance scholarship in memory of Jenni-Lyn Watson

Monday, June 13, 2011, By Eileen Jevis
Share
University College

Margaret Moreno, a senior at Corcoran High School, has attended SU’s Summer Dance Intensive Program for three years. She is so dedicated to her art that at age 15, she cashed in her $1,000 life savings to pay the tuition to attend the program.

morenoThis year Moreno, who has been accepted at SUNY Brockport in the fall as a dance major, received a full scholarship from a newly created Jenni-Lyn Watson Memorial Fund established at the Central New York Community Foundation (CNYCF). Jenni-Lyn Watson’s life was tragically cut short last November when she returned home to Clay from college for the Thanksgiving holiday. Watson was a dance major at Mercyhurst College, and a company member of SoMar Dance Works.

The Watson family established the fund to create opportunities for local dance students who have a passion for dance but cannot afford specialized training. “We should all be so lucky to find half the passion for something in our lives like Jenni-Lyn had for dance,” Jenni-Lyn’s mother, Jackie Watson, told the Community Foundation. “We will use this fund to ensure that financial barriers don’t stop other dancers from achieving their dreams.”

“This is my fourth year attending the SU Summer Dance Intensive Program, and I’ve always had to scrounge for money,” says Moreno. “Now more than ever it was crucial that I find the financial support to attend the program in order to prepare for college.”

Moreno has been dancing since she was 11 years old. She says that compared to other dance programs, she has learned and grown the most by far at SU’s. “I feel each year I leave the program with a stronger technique and sense of where I stand as a dancer compared to other dancers around the country, and in some instances, around the world,” says Moreno.

Moreno says that although her initial payment of $1,000 was one of the greatest investments she ever made, she hasn’t been able to recover the money in order to finance this year’s program. “It’s an amazing thing that the Watsons are doing for other young dancers,” she says.

“This is how Jenni-Lyn would have wanted to be remembered—by helping those in our region who have a love for dance, but don’t have the same opportunities she did to attend formal arts schooling,” Jackie Watson says. “This fund will help us carry on her love for people, dance and life.”

Syracuse University’s Dance Intensive Program, administered through University College, prepares aspiring dancers to meet the challenges of today’s dance world. Students take daily technique classes in ballet, modern and jazz in an intense conservatory environment. With its emphasis on technical growth and artistic performance, the training these students receive develops and refines their technique and broadens their understanding of what it means to be a dancer. The program culminates with a free, public performance on Saturday, July 30, at 1 p.m. at Syracuse Stage.

For more information, visit the Summer Dance Intensive web site at http://www.yesu.syr.edu/students/current/courses/ballet/index.htm.

  • Author

Eileen Jevis

  • Recent
  • The Racket About Padel: Newhouse Students Partner With Global Media Firm to Track Rise of Sport
    Friday, July 11, 2025, By Genaro Armas
  • From Wedding Day Pics on Campus to Working at ‘Otto’s House’: Brianna and Kevin Shults Share Their Orange Love Story
    Friday, July 11, 2025, By Jen Plummer
  • Vintage Over Digital: Alumnus Dan Cohen’s Voyager CD Bag Merges Music and Fashion
    Monday, July 7, 2025, By John Boccacino
  • Empowering Learners With Personalized Microcredentials, Stackable Badges
    Thursday, July 3, 2025, By Hope Alvarez
  • WISE Women’s Business Center Awarded Grant From Empire State Development, Celebrates Entrepreneur of the Year Award
    Thursday, July 3, 2025, By Dawn McWilliams

More In Arts & Culture

From Wedding Day Pics on Campus to Working at ‘Otto’s House’: Brianna and Kevin Shults Share Their Orange Love Story

It started with trivia nights at the Inn Complete and a mutual fandom of Orange sports and grew into a life filled with Orange pride, campus milestones and a little one who thinks Otto the Orange runs the world. For…

Former Orange Point Guard and Maxwell Alumna ‘Roxi’ Nurse McNabb Still Driving for an Assist

As point guard for the Orange women’s basketball team, Raquel-Ann “Roxi” Nurse McNabb ’98, G’99 was known for helping her teammates ‘make buckets’—a lot of buckets. The 1997 Syracuse University Athlete of the Year, two-time team MVP and three-time BIG…

Vintage Over Digital: Alumnus Dan Cohen’s Voyager CD Bag Merges Music and Fashion

Bucking the trend of streaming music platforms and contrary to what one might expect of a member of his generation, musician Dan Cohen ’25 prefers listening to his favorite artists on compact disc (CD) and record players. His research and…

Empowering Learners With Personalized Microcredentials, Stackable Badges

The University is enhancing its commitment to lifelong learning with digital badges, a tool that recognizes and authenticates the completion of microcredentials. The badges aim to support learners in their professional and personal development by showcasing achievements in short, focused…

Rose Tardiff ’15: Sparking Innovation With Data, Mapping and More

While pursuing a bachelor’s degree in geography in the Maxwell School, Rose Tardiff ’15 became involved with the Salt City Harvest Farm, a community farm near Syracuse where newcomers from all over the world grow food and make social connections….

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • X
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2025 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.