Crockett students take to the dance floor

Teenagers danced their way across a school cafeteria floor to the beat of salsa music.

The Crockett Junior High School students worked with dance instructors during their final dance class before the Thanksgiving break, Communities in Schools representative Robyn Hernandez said.

The classes are part of a Communities in Schools program for at-risk students. The program is modeled after similar programs used in urban schools across America, Hernandez said.

“It’s the first program of its kind in the West Texas area that targets at-risk students,” Hernandez said.

The program aims to provide a healthy outlet for students dealing with difficult personal situations such as domestic abuse or homelessness, Hernandez said.

The classes are taught by instructors from the Love to Dance Studio whose owner and dance instructors decided to volunteer their time after being contacted by Communities in Schools, Hernandez said.

There will be six separate units over the course of the year ranging from ballroom to hip hop, Hernandez said.

About 25 students are in each unit and a total of 87 students are in the entire program, Hernandez said.

Students completed the hip hop unit and are currently working on salsa dancing, which has been quite popular with the students, Hernandez said.

“Something to it just makes me want to dance even more,” student Ricardo Ramos said about salsa dancing.

Program coordinators are currently working to accommodate students involved in sports or after-school tutoring and hope to soon have a Wednesday morning dance class in addition to the one on Monday afternoon, Hernandez said.

The instructors have been pleasantly surprised by how committed students are to the dance lessons.

“They’re really focused and want to learn as much as possible,” salsa instructor Enrique Romero said.

Volunteering in the community is not a new experience for Romero, but, as a Crockett alumnus, Romero said that this particular project holds a lot of meaning.

“I will do anything I can to help out,” Romero said.

In addition to the support students receive from faculty, staff and the volunteer dance instructors, some are also getting encouragement from home, Hernandez said.

After joining the dance program, Ramos came home and was met by his parents’ reaction.

“They said, ‘You have to teach me how to do it’,” Ramos said, grinning.

Students have not just benefitted from the program socially and emotionally.

“My grades are actually better,” student Ce’Lebritie White said.

Learning different styles of dancing has prepared students to face new intellectual challenges.

“Whenever I learn something new, it’s not going to be as hard,” White said.