The Directors and Benefit Committee of Dancing Classrooms Northeast Ohio cordially invite you to a Gala Dinner Dance for the benefit of Dancing Classrooms.  Please join us for this elegant evening and support the children of our Northeast Ohio communities.  The money raised from the Gala event directly funds implementing the Dancing Classrooms program into Northeast Ohio schools, making a difference in the lives of every 5th and 8th grade student we reach. 

                                                  Friday, March 25, 2011                                                    Key Center - Cleveland Marriott Downton

Three Course Dinner * Open Bar * Jerry Bruno Orchestra * Formal Attire $125.00/Ticket

BENEFIT COMMITTEE

            David & Nicole Berlekamp * Stacey Duwe * Jo Jo Graham * Holly Harris * Sean Joyce *                   Jill Katzenberg * C.J. Marshall * Barbara Nalette * Fulton & Thea O'Donoghue * Constance Roop * Danielle Serino * Nina Turner

WHO WE ARE:

Dancing Classrooms Northeast Ohio (DCNEO) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that was formed in 2008 with the purpose of implementing the project Dancing Classrooms into the school-day curriculum at participating schools throughout Northeast Ohio.  DCNEO works to improve the educational experience of children through our project, Dancing Classrooms, a 10 week - 20 session program for 5th and 8th grade children.  We intend that our program will produce tangible progress of increased attendance, decreased dropout rates, and increased social skills, self-confidence and overall academic performance, while fostering maturity and respect.

Anecdotally, school administrators and classroom teachers have correlated the Dancing Classrooms program with improved attendance rates, improved focus and attention in the classroom leading to improved academics and testing, reduced behavioral management problems leading to more productive class time, and an increase in parental involvement at the school.  The instruction is aligned with the Ohio Department of Education's benchmarks for Academic Content Standards in dance and is monitered by independent evaluators and educational liaisons.

A recent study of the Dancing Classrooms program sponsored by Mercy Behavioral Health demonstrates that the 5th grade students who participated in the Dancing Classrooms program had significantly improved grade point averages after three quarters of observation.  The grades were also improved for students participating in Dancing Classrooms when compared with the 5th grade students who did not participate for the subjects Social Science, Science and Math.  Led by Dr. Janice Pringle from the University of Pittsburgh, the study examined 330 5th grade students in six schools.  The full report will be available in early 2011.

Research projects have also been completed on the Dancing Classrooms program and its impact in the areas of Childhood Obesity and Social Development and the results support our efforts in working to make a positive impact in both of these areas (full reports are available upon request).