North schools in Miromar dance competition
North Fort Myers elementary schools will be well represented when fifth-grade students from eight Lee County schools compete in a ballroom dance competition at the Miromar Design Center, 10800 Corkscrew Road, in Estero on Saturday at 4 p.m.
Of the eight schools, three are from North Fort Myers, J. Colin English, Dr. Carrie D. Robinson and Tropic Isles elementary schools, giving the area a great opportunity for a high finish.
The event, known as the Colors of the Rainbow Team Match, is the culminating event of The Foundation of Lee County Public Schools’ Dancing Classrooms program and is sponsored by Miromar Outlets.
Marshall Bower, president and executive director at The Foundation for Lee County Public Schools, said the competition is less about dance ability and more about the making of young men and ladies.
“It instills in children that we’re all the same, but we have differences and we should celebrate them. It’s called the Colors of the Rainbow because they have their own colors,” Bower said. “When you see it, all the colors are in harmony.”
Six pairs of students from each school will be selected to compete in the team match. Bower said the students who compete will be decided upon by the principal, dance instructor and the room teacher.
“Each of the schools pick a group of students to compete. The criteria are the ones who exhibit the behaviors we expect of young ladies and gentlemen through the class,” Bower said. “We teach dance, but we also help them with self-esteem, pride, teamwork and treat people well.”
Of course, the event also provides an opportunity for students from each participating school to compete in various ballroom dance routines. These schools have received 10 weeks of training from certified dance instructors.
Now in its ninth year in Lee County, Dancing Classrooms is a national program administered locally by The Foundation for Lee County Public Schools and sponsored by Miromar Outlets.
For Bower, it is one of the crowning events the foundation puts on every year.
“It’s a happy uplifting event. And it brings together kids from low-income, Title I schools. These kids get dressed up in their best clothes and they bring their families and it’s fun watching the kids demonstrate outstanding behavior,” Bower said.
The final competition is open to the public at no cost. Other schools include Bonita Springs, Colonial, Lehigh, Tortuga Preserve elementary schools and James Stephens International Academy.
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 more than doubled as it grew from five schools reaching 325 students in its first year, to eight schools reaching more than 750 students this year.