When Emma Schneider twirls a baton, she's on fire. That is, her batons are on fire - literally. Emma, a junior at Elizabethtown Area High School (EAHS), is a twirler with the school marching band and also competes on a national level, showcasing her ability to combine twirling up to three fire batons with acrobatics.

"I have been twirling baton since I was about 5 years old," said Emma, noting that she began twirling at Paula's School of Baton in Mount Joy. "I knew I wanted to twirl when I saw the sparkly costumes everyone got to wear." She joined the EAHS marching band as a sixth-grader. "Usually, they don't allow twirlers in the band until they are in high school," Emma noted, but the band needed a twirler, and majorette instructor Heather Hartsough noticed something special in Emma.

"Emma is super talented," Hartsough stated. "Her showmanship is fantastic, and you can tell she loves being out there performing for people."

Soon after joining the band, Emma decided to try twirling with fire. "I wanted to do fire baton because it's fun and different from regular batons," she explained. "It's also something that everybody loves to watch." She admits she was scared at first, but after a little practice, she was brave enough to add a second and third baton, despite a little protest from her parents, Scott and Michelle Schneider of Elizabethtown. "My dad did say he would never let me twirl two or three batons, but I ended up twirling them," Emma said with a laugh. Although there are risks associated with her talent, Emma said she's only had a few minor injuries, typically when she has burned herself on the hot metal shaft of the baton.

Along with twirling, Emma incorporates what she calls "acro-like skills" into her routines. These range from walkovers to side and front aerials. "I have taken tumbling lessons with gymnastic coaches to help improve my tumbling," she remarked. "Adding tumbling into routines kind of adds that 'wow' factor and is not something that every twirler can do."

Emma said baton twirling has opened up a world of opportunities for her, from traveling to competitions as far away as Tennessee and Georgia to teaching younger kids how to twirl. She twirls at school football games and at numerous community events, and she competes nationally through Paula's School of Baton with the Drum Majorettes of America on the elite level.

As she looks toward the future, Emma said she hopes to continue twirling for a college marching band, and she noted that she'll never tire of wowing a crowd. "The audience in the stands at football games goes crazy when I juggle three fire batons," she said. "There is no better feeling than to have parents, students and even kids from the opposing team cheering for you and complimenting your performance when you come off."