May I Have This Dance?
Lucille Rabinowitz and a team of volunteers inspire confidence, self-esteem and a love of dancing in fifth graders
When Lucille Rabinowitz moved from New York to San Diego she looked for ways to get involved in the community. She volunteered as an OASIS tutor in the Poway school district, and then thought "What else can I do?"
"I love children and I love to dance," Rabinowitz says. She knew about the ballroom dance program in the New York City public schools that was documented in the film "Mad Hot Ballroom" and thought it would be fun to try in her local school. Rabinowitz teamed up with Jane Radatz, Poway district tutoring coordinator, and they started at Turtleback Elementary School in the fall of 2006.
"When Lucille came to me with this idea, we didn't think of recruiting other tutors," Radatz says. "We went to ballroom dancing groups and classes, but got zero interest. We switched gears to focus on people we knew that loved to work with children. I sent my tutors a flyer pitching the idea and they started calling! We now have a team of 20 volunteers."
"At first the children have sweaty palms, but then they get right into it," says Rabinowitz. "At that age they just grasp everything." In just four half-hour sessions, the students learn the merengue, rumba, fox trot, waltz and swing.
"It's a wonderful way to give children another physical activity," says Radatz. Dance skills are part of the physical education standards for California public schools, so the schools were also enthusiastic. So far seven schools have signed up, representing about 700 fifth graders.
The teachers typically begin as observers, but soon join in. One teacher said, "My students are kinder to each other since the program began."
The tutors meet Wednesday to practice what they will teach, and then meet with the students on Thursday. "As long as the tutors stay ahead of the children, we're in business." Radatz says.
Jan Clover, national OASIS tutoring coordinator, is excited about this new way for tutors to help students. "Each year, 400-500 OASIS tutors take on additional mentoring activities. Tutors become so dedicated to 'their' school and 'their' students, they truly become part of the school community," she says.
"We are having fun with it," Rabinowitz says. "I see the children building confidence and self-esteem, and they are getting some of the social graces too. It just warms my heart to see it take off!"