Each year our second-grade students participate in a Discover Dance residency. Last week, our second graders had the unique experience of performing on stage at McCaw Hall—on the very same stage where the professional dancers from the Pacific Northwest Ballet (PNB) perform. It is absolutely amazing to get to see our students having this once in a lifetime experience! Without our partnership with PNB, many of our students would not have had the opportunity to participate in formal dance instruction. While there are many different community partners our school could choose to align with, we keep coming back to PNB year after year because we see the value of this program for all our students. I wanted to share with you the benefits of this partnership for our students.
Our district-required curriculum is packed. While we want our students to have enriching activities in school, it is a real challenge to fit in anything extra. As principal, I really appreciate that PNB works with our teachers to find ways to integrate movement with our curriculum. Would you have expected that dance could teach students about science? Dance choreography with PNB is a great opportunity for our students to express their creativity as they move and collaborate. This happens as they deepen their understanding of vocabulary in our Properties of Materials Science unit. As science is integrated with movement, students approach the content in a new way, making it stickier for their brains to latch onto! Other schools here tonight may have chosen other content areas to integrate with dance. Our PNB partners are flexible in this planning so that teachers are giving students the experience that best meets their learning needs.
PNB provides opportunities for our students to work together. Our school deeply values inclusion. Learning together with peers who are different from you creates a richer learning experience. It doesn’t mean it’s always easy! In any grade at our school—but let’s just say second grade—we have students who are learning fourth grade math (as seven-year-olds!), students learning English who do much of their academics in Spanish, students who are non-verbal and working on adaptive life skills, and students who have goals around behavior as they learn to regulate their emotions and work with others. All of these students have something to learn from working together, and finding ways to help them do this can be a challenge. Participating in group dance activities encourages development of social skills such as teamwork, cooperation, and communication among peers, fostering positive social interactions and friendships. PNB shares our enthusiasm for inclusion and creates an opportunity for students to work together. This is scaffolded at first, and over time we see our students develop connections and learn to support each other.
One developmental task for children at this age is to develop an increased awareness of where their bodies are in space. Our second graders are still developing coordination and an understanding of what their bodies can do. We sometimes see children at this age bump into things—or each other—and it’s not uncommon to see them fall out of their chair for no particular reason. Through our PNB residency, students are coming to understand the ways their bodies can move and move in relation to other children. They become proud of what their bodies can do. Teacher Rob Long notes that he sees his students learning to think about movements as meaningful, conveying information and also artistic expression. Experiencing movement in this way may be the start of a lifelong love of fitness for some of our students who are not interested in traditional competitive sports. Exposing students to dance at a young age may very well accomplish this.
Research suggests that regular physical activity, such as dance, can improve cognitive function, attention span, and academic performance. Research from the CDC’s Healthy Schools program has shown that Students who are physically active tend to have better grades, school attendance, cognitive performance, and classroom behaviors. Additionally, higher physical activity and physical fitness levels are associated with improved cognitive performance (e.g., concentration and memory) among students. As lawmakers advocate for increased physical education in schools, partnerships like ours with PNB serve as a vital supplement to existing curriculum, enriching our students' educational experience.
Many of our students are excited to come to school and develop their skills in reading, writing, math, and science. But not all of our students are traditional learners. Some students struggle in these areas, and school for these students can be a place where frustration becomes a part of their experience. Allowing students the benefit of learning in a unique way, where they can express their creativity through movement, can help them to access curriculum in a new way. It can also give them a sense of pride and the ability to shine in a different area.
In essence, the partnership between Thurgood Marshall Elementary School and PNB embodies the transformative potential of arts education. By providing our students with opportunities to learn, grow, and express themselves through dance, we are nurturing not only their academic success but also their social-emotional well-being and lifelong love of learning. As we look to the future, let us continue to champion the arts as an essential component of a comprehensive education that empowers every student to thrive.
