For 4 years, the physical education department at Berry Middle School has included ballroom dancing as a unit to teach locomotor and motor skills, etiquette, and social interaction. The dances are the Waltz, Rumba, Cha Cha, Foxtrot, East Coast Swing, and the Salsa. Not only does this unit foster the needs within our physical education curriculum, but promotes character education throughout the student body.

Before the ballroom dance unit begins, a diverse group of students are chosen to be instructors for their specific physical education class period. These student instructors are taught each dance by the physical education teachers. When the actual ballroom dance unit begins the dance instructors (students) give a presentation of each dance to their fellow classmates. This allows students who may be apprehensive or unsure about ballroom dance to observe their peers enjoy the dances and be successful.

After the dance unit, the physical education department sponsors a dance. The dance has been an in-school dance where the 8th grade students attend the dance the last two hours of the school day. The physical education department and the students decorate the gymnasium. During the dance, students are encouraged to enter a dance contest judged by administrators and faculty. The physical education department tries to make this event very special for the students because the students do a great job dancing during the unit.

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