Wingman for Dance inspires empathy, compassion, kindness and most importantly, acceptance of all children regardless of any perceived differences. Each month in the studio we will be incorporating Wingman for Dance activities within all of our dance  classes. This month we were excited to explore different avenues of acts of service for our internal dance community and our community at large.

April’s Wingman Week: Making a Plan

During April’s Wingman Week are dancers were encouraged to brainstorm a list of activities/opportunities for our Footprints Family to strengthen their connections to one another and another list of ways we can help our community.

At Footprints Dance Centre, community is one of our core values. We think it is especially important not to just give back to our community that supports us, but to also teach our dancers the importance of this work. Our mission is to make all of our dancers better citizens of the world and this is one way we hope to inspire them to do that.

By giving without any expectations, dancers develop gratitude and kindness. Creating an organized plan for how dancers and the studio can invest in the community creates excitement, anticipation as well as responsibility for the upcoming events we plan together.

Our dancers came up with so many great ideas to help our Footprints Family and the community at large.

Some of the ideas to inspire our Footprints Family were:

  • Send Wow Cards to the dancers
  • Make friendship bracelets together
  • Teachers could send personal letters to the students
  • More themed dress up weeks
  • Movie night
  • Bring a family member to class week
  • Online spa night
  • Kahoot trivia night
  • Have a dance pen pal
  • Pass the something video challenge
  • Fun flash-mob video to add to recital
  • Dance party

How to support our Local community:

  • Teach people (virtually) how to do dance steps that you’ve learned
  • Donate to the community
  • Donate to local charities
  • Shop local
  • Donate your old clothes/ stuff that people would want
  • Bake some treats for people
  • Making cards (we did something in school writing letters to front line workers) maybe we could write letters to community members and drop them in their mailboxes or something
  • Pick up trash challenge
  • During costume pick-up week, have parents bring a donation of some kind to the studio

During our last 6 weeks together, you will see some of these amazing ideas plugged into our calendar of events. Keep an eye on our May newsletter and weekly email updates to see what events and fun is headed your way!

How Can Parents Help?

Discuss our studio’s plans with your dancer. Learn about what will be happening and why they are excited about the event. Ask your dancer how she/he feels about giving back to the community.

What is Wingman for Dance?

Wingman for Dance is a program from Dylan’s Wings of Change, a foundation dedicated to the memory of Dylan Hockley. Dylan was one of the first grade victims of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012. Dylan was six years old and had autism. He could be his best when those around him would be his Wingman. You can find out more at www.wingmanleague.org. Also, find Wingman for Dance on Facebook and on Instagram.