Kimball Elementary Behavior Bash

by Brendan Ori, corps member serving at Kimball Elementary School

One of the clearest memories from grade school, for better or worse, was your first dance. Whether you mustered up the courage and cut rugs on the dance floor or you watched from a distance as a wallflower, the first dance is altogether awkward, strange, liberating, and a ridiculous amount of fun. As a reward for good behavior and getting through the multiple days of standardized testing, The City Year team at Kimball Elementary gave our kids the chance to experience those things.

As our kids approached from the North Wing towards the auditorium, they were greeted by The City Year team and several staff members to raucous cheering and chants. “OMG its Xavier ahhh!!!!!” “Amara! Amara! Over Here!” As they strutted down the hallway over a beautiful red carpet, the kids got the feeling they were the stars of the show.

 When they got to the gym…I mean…when the kids got to “Hollywood” they were surprised at the extent of the decorations. Silver and black balloons, dozens of movie posters, and a fantastic backdrop of the Hollywood sign all gave the students they were attending a movie premiere. You could feel the excitement as they students ran around the gym pointing out different posters and posing in front of the backdrop. After two weeks of testing, it was good to see some life out of the students once again.

Then, of course, was the actual dance. The DJ was turning out dance hit after dance hit and emcee Mr. Williams got the kids super excited with an original rap and dance performance. Even the City Year corps members got excited. Ms. Paiyal Patel doing “the worm” on stage is something that I never want to forget!