EXCEL students show off their dance moves alongside PROUD peers

District 228's EXCEL program teaches functional life skills to students with learning disabilities. For all physical education (P.E.) related activities, EXCEL students work alongside a PROUD peer. PROUD students are students from Bremen High School who choose the class as their gym credit for the year. They work with one to three EXCEL students at a time to assist them in learning P.E. activities. Every year, the group works together to learn a Christmas-themed dance.

After learning the dance, students invite District 228 administration, teachers, and their own families to come watch the dance before Christmas break kicks off. EXCEL students perform the dance alongside their PROUD peers who lead them through the moves or help them if they get lost. Students are generally excited to show off the new skills they have learned and will add their own variations of holiday cheer throughout the show with big smiles and additional twirling or dance moves.

Bremen High School teacher Keri Larson is in charge or the EXCEL/PROUD gym class and arranges the dance every year. This year, she purchased special Christmas hats for students to wear during their dance performance to Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You."

District 228 PROUD students posing with teacher, Keri Larson

Audience members were so pleased with this year's performance that they actually requested an encore from the students. The hard-working EXCEL students would not let their audience down and performed their routine not one more time, but twice!

After a tremendous applause, students went back to their classroom where they celebrated their success with a pizza party alongside their PROUD peers.

District 228 EXCEL students posing for a quick photo while eating pizza