Children’s Ed Center Students and Staff Celebrate Valentine’s Day With Annual Dance
This year, the Children’s Education Center administrators welcomed back a much-loved tradition started in 2018, their annual Valentine’s Day dance. The dance gives students an event to look forward to after returning from their New Year’s break. However, the festivities ended in 2020 due to pandemic precautions. This year, the dance returned for the first time since and welcomed close to 40 students accompanied by parents and some support staff.
The activity created an opportunity for students to dress up, socialize, and have fun while making friends with students outside of their classrooms. There were even 2023 alumni found spotted in the crowd dancing and catching up with old friends and former teachers.
“The children were really excited to get together and our staff assisted with socializing and communicating. It was a great opportunity for students in different classes to get to know each other,” said Assistant Director Denise Hackman.
Staff celebrated and treated students to snacks, giveaways, and a special love potion punch that delighted as a crowd-pleaser. Although meant for students, the dance was also an opportunity for parents to socialize, learn from each other and connect with peers sharing the same lived experience. 
One parent shared with Denise how happy she was to see her child look forward to meeting up with his friends at the dance and having an experience like his brother who attends a different school.
“We wanted to give our students a typical school experience and create something where they can see their friends outside of school. At first, we didn’t know how it would turn out, but everyone was excited, says Program Director Denise Gaughan.