Heart & Sole Dance Foundation

Results: In our pilot year we brought Dancing Classrooms Southern Chicago to the 5th grade classes at Southeast Elementary in Evergreen Park. The program was an enormous success, bringing a positive impact on all the children who participated, their families, and community at large. We have not only been asked to implement the program throughout district 124 in the upcoming 2013-2014 school year, we are also in talks with numerous other districts to bring the program to an additional 20 schools.

Target demographics: change lives and build social awareness, confidence and self-esteem in children through the practice of social dance

Direct beneficiaries per year: over 200 Students gain confidence and social awareness, making their over all learning experience more productive.

Geographic areas served: the Chicagoland area

Programs: Dancing Classrooms Southern Chicago. Dancing Classrooms is not about teaching ballroom dancing. The dance is a tool for getting the children to break down social barriers, learn about honor and respect, treat others carefully, improve self-confidence, communicate and cooperate, and accept others even if they are different. Dancing Classrooms is a 10-week – 20 session social development program for 5th and 8th grade children that utilizes ballroom dancing as a vehicle to change the lives of not only the children who participate in the program but also the lives of the teachers and parents who support these children. Dancing Classrooms uses a curriculum-based teaching approach to achieve social awareness and build self-esteem. Students are taught the vocabulary of various contemporary social dances in a classroom setting. Each class in the series introduces new steps, reinforcing what has been previously learned through practice and repetition.