This July, Andrew Currie, of Dance Space(verodance.com), will be sharing his time, talent and treasure with at-risk students of Indian River County in what he calls "Dance Summer School". The brainchild of Currie and some of his teachers, pairs dance lessons with academics in order to support and motivate students who normally wouldn't participate in an extracurricular activity. With The Vero Beach Theatre Guild as sponsor and The Education Foundation of IRC as mentor, Currie applied for a $5000.00 grant from the State of Florida and received it.

He plans to host 30 students ages 9-13 from July 9-August 3, 12:30-3:30, for jazz and ballet lessons. After lessons, the group will read together and write together, discovering the history of American dance and the contributions of some great dancers and choreographers. The students will get to research using computers and the Internet and watch some famous Dance performances and documentaries. The session will conclude with a performance by the students for family, friends and the community at the Vero Beach Theatre Guild.

At- risk students are those in danger of failing academically, going through high school frustrated and/or dropping-out before graduation. Contributing factors include but are not limited to:

§Being a member of a low-income family

§Having low academic skills (though not necessarily low intelligence)

§Having parents who are not high school graduates

§Speaking English as a second language

§Being single-parent children

§Having negative self-perceptions; being bored or alienated; having low self-esteem

Currie is an accomplished professional dancer with Broadway, National and International Touring credits to his name. He believes the esteem, discipline and physical activity provided by dance helps students succeed at school. In writing the grant, he found many educational studies that support his beliefs. He is looking for children who want to dance and have fun. He is also looking for matching funds to fulfill the promise of the grant. He is currently waiting to hear from Target, Bank of America and Wachovia as well as local citizens or organizations that want to help with cash or in-kind donations.

Please Call Debbie Rea at 772-231-9699 for any information about Dance Summer School, especially if you are a student interested in dancing!