Two North schools conclude ballroom training
For 10 weeks, fifth-graders at four Lee County elementary schools have hit the ballroom floor, learning to dance and learn some life lessons from it, even if they didn’t know it.
Two of those schools are from North Fort Myers.
The Foundation for Lee County Public Schools’ Dancing Classrooms program will hold its fall exhibition at Miromar Outlets in Estero on Saturday at 11 a.m.
Fifth-grade students from eight schools in Lee County participate in training twice a week for 10 weeks from certified dance instructors, showcasing their skills at the exhibitions and a culminating event held in April.
Erica Patti, assistant program manager at the Foundation, said it’s a social-emotional learning program which uses ballroom dancing as a vehicle to teach intelligence confidence, respect and academic achievement.
“Teachers and administrators see the benefit of this because it teaches them skills they’ll use for the rest of their lives,” Patti said.
Participants in the fall session included J. Colin English and Tropic Isles elementary schools in North Fort Myers, Colonial Elementary in Fort Myers and Lehigh Elementary in Lehigh Acres.
“We hire certified dance instructors to come into these schools and teach ballroom dancing. We have instructors who will go into the gym or the cafeteria to teach,” said Margo Brewster, marketing director the Foundation for Lee County Public Schools. “We want to get to those children who don’t have the leadership that other schools have.”
Dancing Classrooms was brought to The Foundation for Lee County Public Schools in 2008 by Margaret Antonier, Founder and CEO of Miromar Development.
Since its inception, the program has grown from five schools reaching 325 students in its first year, to eight schools with more than 750 students.
All told, more than 6,000 students overall have participated in the Dancing Classrooms program. Brewster said many of the schools eligible for the program do it every year.
J. Colin English is the only school to have done it every year, said Kristin Puzder, teacher and fifth-grade chairperson.
“In the beginning we thought it was going to be a lot of work. Over the years, it’s become something we enjoy doing. The kids look forward to it,” Puzder said.
Puzder said she has seen the difference in the children who go through the program and that the fourth-graders can’t wait to join.
“Children become better communicators and more respectful to each other. They learn to respectfully touch another person and receive a respectable touch,” Puzder said. “The kids grow to really enjoy the program.”
J. Colin English had nearly 75 fifth-graders participate this year, which Puzder said is one of the highest rates for the school.
“The principals agree to having it, and if they want to keep having it and they still qualify under Title I, they love it so much they come back,” Brewster said.
Tropic Isles and J. Colin English are among the schools who are repeat customers.
Four more schools, Robinson/Littleton, Bonita Springs and Tortuga Preserve and elementary schools and Stevens International Academy, will participate in the spring, Patti said.
And the program knows no bounds. Patti said a student who is danced last year and one who has cerebral palsy participated this year.
“It gives some students a newfound confidence who haven’t found their niche yet. This opens up a new world of possibilities for them,” Patti said.
The final ballroom dancing competition called “Colors of the Rainbow” will be held on April 23, 2016, at Miromar Design Center.
Brewster said some of the students aren’t really into it at first and are uncomfortable holding hands with a female. That changes as the twice-weekly classes go on.
“It’s like an alternative class and the teacher brings them in. Not many of them are open to it, but it’s cool to watch. By the end of the year, they’re all about it,” Brewster said. “They’re so young they’re nervous about holding hands at first, but by the end of the year they’re comfortable about it.”