SENATE FOOTBALL WELCOMES JESSICA WHALEN AS THE DANCE TEAM ASSISTANT DIRECTOR

SENATE FOOTBALL WELCOMES JESSICA WHALEN AS THE DANCE TEAM ASSISTANT DIRECTOR

Jessica Whalen was born and raised in Utah. She has been married for ten years; her husband (Bo) has his Doctorate in Physical Therapy—working as a physical therapist and a professor. Jessica is a graduate of Utah Valley University with a Bachelor’s in Communications, Minor in Political Science, and an Associate's of Integrated Studies. She has turned her passion and hobby of traveling into a career and is a certified Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Flight Attendant. She loves being a Flight Attendant in a dynamic and exciting position, allowing her to be invigorated. She enjoys adventure and exploring the world with her husband and making lasting memories. Jessica and her husband both grew up in single-parent households and together are the first college graduates in their families. Growing up in a single-parent household was not easy; yet, it taught them both hard work and dedication. Jessica exemplifies a lifestyle of hard work, dedication, and perseverance with her optimistic views and vivacious personality, she knows how to roll with the punches, overcoming any challenge brought her way, launching her into tremendous opportunities, and always counts her blessings. She lives by her favorite quote, “To the world you may only be one person, but to one person you may be the world.”  

Jessica began dancing at the age of 15—finding an affordable dance studio for her and her Mom to pay tuition at, where the two of them split the cost together. Jessica was able to help fund for her dance classes by working in high school, she appreciates the lifelong skills she learned there, and has carried it over into her everyday life. Her goal is to own and operate a dance studio at a reduced rate allowing all to have this art form no matter their income bracket. Jessica admits her extreme excitement when she was asked by Sofia Berrett to become an Assistant to the Dance Team Director for the Salt Lake Senate Dance Team. Jessica is skilled in a variety of dance styles, with her favorites of jazz, ballet, and pom, today she enjoys taking dance classes recreationally. She has danced professionally for Radio Disney (four years) and the NFL Oakland Raiderettes (two years). Jessica’s cheer and dance training have provided her multiple opportunities, she was a dancer in Vanessa Hudgens’ “Sneaker Night” music video, dancer in "High School Musical 3 Senior Year”, the opening dance number act for Disney artists Corbin Bleu, Drew Sealy, T-Squad, B-5, Jordan Pruitt, and Vanessa Hudgens. She has been able to engage with fans, has had the thrill of performing in-front of 85,000 individuals, performed on local and cable networks, and has traveled across America, Europe, and Mexico, for cheer and dance performances and training. As an NFL alumni cheerleader, Jessica has volunteered with Taste of the NFL, a Super Bowl event. She was paired with NFL Super Bowl alumni player Dick Anderson from the Miami Dolphins’ Perfect Season, NFL Super Bowl alumni Hall of Fame player Dave Casper from the Oakland Raiders, celebrity chefs, and Miss America Emma Broyles on behalf of the charities Party with a Purpose, Feeding America, and GENYOUth raising funds and awareness to tackle hunger. At the events, Jessica sold raffle tickets at a total of $1,000 raffling off an exquisite diamond necklace Miss America Emma Broyles’ wore, raised $250 from a Dolphins signed helmet from Dick Anderson, and raised $500 from a Raiders signed helmet from Dave Casper and Charles Woodson. The funds raised went to affiliated food banks, created 6,000 new meals to help kick hunger, and provided resources to end student hunger, supply school cafeteria makeovers, start school gardens, increase school meal access and distributions nationwide for the one in six children in America who are food insecure.

Jessica is a fitness enthusiast, it is an integral part of her daily life, she is committed to living a healthy and productive lifestyle. She is a huge sports fanatic, she loves to watch and play sports, plays fantasy football (has won multiple championships), plays a mean turkey bowl, knows referee signals, can make a half-court shot in basketball, can punt a football 60-yards, and kick a 33-yard field goal. You can catch Jessica and her husband (Bo) running football drills, playing one-on-one basketball, and cheering on their favorite sports teams—especially attending in-person games. There is just no quit to her fit.

Beyond the poms, Jessica is active in civic engagement, her church, and pageants. Jessica participated in her first pageant at the age of 18 after receiving a letter in the mail to join. She was enticed by the scholarships awarded to help fund her higher education, the talent section to continue dance, and has caught the pageant bug since. She has held various titles, placed as a finalist in her state competition, placed 4th runner up at her national competition, and has received the awards of Miss Photogenic, Overall Swimsuit, Miss Congeniality, and the Quality of Life Community Service award twice. She was able to help fund for her schooling by working and by the scholarships she won from pageants she competed in. Today, she is the current Mrs. Rocky Mountain for the Mrs. Utah America Pageant to be held March 26th in Ogden—she is loving competing again after 10 years from the Miss pageants and loves experiencing the Mrs. side of pageants. Jessica loves pageants for the growth opportunities it provides her and giving back to her community. She started volunteering in the Miss America Organization after competing as a contestant, has helped as a sponsorship coordinator, judge, contestant recruiter, workshop coordinator, and choreographer. For the past seven years Jessica has served as the Executive Director for the Miss Zion, Miss Legacy, Miss Pioneer Valley, and Miss Rocky Mountain Competitions for Miss Utah. She has recruited contestants for the largest and longest running open local in the state, increased scholarships funds, has helped her titleholders place as finalists at Miss Utah and win various awards at Miss Utah, receiving thousands of dollars in scholarships with her countless hours of service she donates. Jessica is a pageant coach with LeClaire’s Lovely—helping women gain confidence, win scholarships, develop interview skills, learn networking skills, gain new friendships, and providing community service. The ladies Jessica has coached have placed as runner ups and have won local, state, and national competitions.

Jessica knows the vital role a community activist can have on their community, state, and nation—she has provided volunteer services since 2005 with the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, Wish Granter for the Make A Wish Foundation, Safety Net Mentor Program, Special Olympics, Sub For Santa, The Salvation Army, United Way, and attended Utah Valley University’s Leadership Conferences. Jessica is an activist for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation—as a Flight Attendant, each October she helps in the support to fight against breast cancer, wearing pink, and raising funds ($2,000+) for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. This past October she raised the third highest amount in funds amongst all flight attendants at $645. In college Jessica was an intern for Susan G. Komen, helped with Race For The Cure, and Komen Utah’s social media. As an influential role model, Jessica loves making a difference, and is committed to her own personal platform of Impoverished to Improved: Advocate and Educate—growing up in an impoverished single-parent household, she knows how it is to live without. Through her personal mission of advocate and educate, she passionately serves with several organizations, has donated countless hours of volunteer work, and hundreds of pounds of goods to improve lives, advance common good, and provide financial stability to individuals. She is dedicated to creating permanent change for the 38 million Americans living in poverty to inspire, motivate, and spark change—elevating her influence to enable everyone to catch a vision of what life can be despite their living situation to make a positive difference for others.

Jessica is an activist for the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals (CMNH). At a young age her family’s life was challenged not knowing whether her younger sister would live. The Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals saves and improves the lives of not only the children; but also the families with children's hospitals across America caring for critically ill and injured children. Her family has benefited from their guided philosophy, "The Child First and Always," receiving the best medical care available for her little sister who is a "Miracle Child". Jessica’s younger sister, Sarah, was born with a hole in her heart, an enlarged liver, and weighed 5 pounds 15 ounces. She was admitted to Primary Children’s Hospital for three weeks, when Sarah was two years and eight months old she received open heart surgery. Her sister was released from Primary Children’s Hospital on their mom’s birthday—May 16th, with her mom and sister both receiving the greatest gift—life. In conjunction with Primary Children’s, next door is the University of Utah Hospital—her sister (Sarah) underwent Chiari Malformation brain surgery in April of 2021. Her sister was in the hospital for five days—upon being released, she had a month recovery process to go through. Jessica is extremely grateful for her family, modern medicine, technology, and health care professionals who continue to save her sister’s life. As a “Miracle Child”, looking at her sister Sarah, you would not know her health problems, as she has always lived a normal typical life, with a smile on her face and never complaining. Today Sarah is a wife and mother of two healthy children. It is Jessica’s mission to increase awareness and funds ($4500+) for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals and has volunteered raising awareness and funds through Dairy Queen’s Miracle Treat Day, Festival of Trees, IHOP’s National Pancake Day, selling the Miracle Ballon icon, and through pageants to help the more than 10 million children who enter a children’s hospital every year.

Jessica’s newest adventures are being a content creator for her YouTube channel: LeClaire’s Lovely Lifestyle (Beauty, Fitness, and Travel), has modeled for a variety of companies, and is a brand ambassador for a variety of clothing, skincare, and makeup companies. Some fun facts about Jessica are: she is half German, her eyes change colors, she I dislike chocolate, she takes daily naps, has never broken a bone—yet, cracked her head open. She is looking forward to the position of the Assistant to the Dance Team Director with Sofia. Sofia and Jessica have been friends for many years, taking dance classes together, and even attended an audition together (how they met). Jessica looks forward to being an ambassador for the Salt Lake Senate Organization bringing her optimistic views, outgoing attitude, hard work ethic, tenacity, and versatility to be part of a diverse team, game-day operations, and community service events as a public relations representative for something bigger than herself, underlining the Senate’s vision and growing through the experience to further develop and elevate her entertainment experience.

WE WELCOME THE Whalen FAMILY TO THE SENATE FAMILY

ABOUT THE SENATE

The Senate was established to provide the community with high quality minor league football, and help cultivate local talent giving local athletes the opportunity to participate in professional football. We are looking at partnering with local area businesses in our pursuit of excellence and commitment to the Utah community. We are excited about the upcoming season and look forward to making an impact in our community. #CALLTOBATTLE #SENATEFOOTBALL