Transformative Education Lab

Susan Martinelli Shea (BC ’76)
Secretary, Boston College Board of Trustees

Formative education goes beyond students’ intellectual growth to support their social, emotional, ethical, and spiritual development. Arts education can contribute to this: engaging young people with the arts facilitates emotional attunement and can foster empathy and the expression of broader social and spiritual aspirations. School arts funding, however, has decreased substantially in recent decades in the United States, reducing the availability of arts education for less privileged students.

In 2004, when this reduction in funding for arts education was well underway, my father introduced me to the Gesu School in North Philadelphia, PA. Gesu is an independent Catholic school inspired by the Jesuit and Immaculate Heart of Mary (IHM) traditions of social justice, faith, creative hope, and love. The school’s values aligned with my core beliefs as a teacher and my interest in making a difference in the lives of young students. Residents of North Philadelphia experience high rates of violent crime. Gesu School was where I was meant to be during a time when I was seeking renewed purpose.

In summer 2004, I quit my teaching job in the suburbs to become a board member at the Gesu School and chairman of the Education Committee. Gesu’s principal, Sister Ellen Convey, IHM, told me that her goal was for her many talented students to have additional opportunities in the arts. After hearing Sister Ellen speak proudly about her students, I created a new program to teach ballroom dancing. The Dancing with the Students (DWTS) program was launched at Gesu in 2005 and was warmly welcomed by both the students and the broader school community.

DWTS is a private, nonprofit foundation that offers ballroom dancing lessons to students in schools with limited or no budget for the arts. Over the past 20 years, we have been proud to teach 7,000 students to dance. We are presently teaching in Philadelphia, Camden, NJ, and Los Angeles. Over 9 weeks of instruction, students learn Waltz, Swing, Tango, and Merengue. In addition to the dance steps, we stress partnership, good eye contact, respect, and bringing out the best in each other. In the 10th week, students participate in a ballroom dance performance and competition in front of their school communities and families, which many students consider a highlight of the program. Students wear numbers on their backs and are judged by teachers in the same manner as professional dancers.

In the awards ceremony, we acknowledge every student who participates. Trophies are also given to the Best Overall Couple, Best Waltz Couple, Best Tango Couple, Best Merengue Couple, and Best Swing Couple. We give the “Glitter Ball Award” to recognize students’ hard work, dedication, and growth in partnership, as recognition of success and dedication for the work they have done.

Our students have also had opportunities to share their ballroom dance talents with broader communities. We have danced at the Festival of Francis for Pope Francis in Philadelphia; twice at the Charity Ball at the Union League in Philadelphia; four times at the Philadelphia 76ers basketball games; once for a sold-out crowd of 45,000 fans at a Philadelphia Phillies game; at the Fringe Festival in Philadelphia; and at the Please Touch Museum for children. While showcasing their talents for others, these performance opportunities expose students and their parents to new experiences and make them feel special. An alumna described how these experiences foster young people’s confidence and sense of belonging, emphasizing “the confidence that it instills in you […] especially as a young Black or Brown person, where there can be a lot of spaces where you don’t feel like you belong.” Another former student said that the DWTS program gave her the confidence to “never be afraid to share your light with others.”

As a former special education teacher, I always believed in the formative emphasis on teaching the whole child. The DWTS program provides an example of how arts education can teach young people so much more than just technical and artistic skills. We recently conducted a qualitative research
study that includes interviews with DWTS alumni, teachers, and Catholic education leaders. The results affirm what we have observed over the years: DWTS provides an avenue for whole-person education as students learn interpersonal skills through partnership work; strengthen their respect
for others; increase their confidence and self-esteem; broaden and deepen community bonds; identify new interests and future opportunities; and develop their creativity and self-expression. Alumni emphasize how DWTS helps them achieve their “full potential.” This process of supporting students’
holistic growth begins with my wonderful teachers, who are experts in modeling respect for one another and teaching the joys of dance.

One thrilling outgrowth of DWTS is that it has inspired alumni to engage in community service and outreach as teenagers and adults. One alumna shared: “When it comes to looking at Ms. Shea and how she gave to us […] I want to do more community service.” Three other alumnae started a nonprofit (tainpo.org) that provides scholarships for families in need. I was honored that this initiative created a scholarship in my name. Another alumnus has participated in various community service activities, including preparing care packages for homeless people. Yet another mentors young boys as their football coach in Philadelphia. He hopes to offer them new opportunities like those he had through DWTS.

The DWTS community has become an extended family. It has been a gift to be part of so many students’ personal development and to see so many empowered through the joys of ballroom dancing. Seeing students give back to their communities shows the transformative power of student formation
through ballroom dance. As one alumna summarized, “dance brings people together”.

For each session of the Halftime Retreat program, there are 7-8 faculty and staff “Sweeps”. We are there to give two five-minute talks and be a part of student small discussion groups. The retreat is focused on “vocational discernment,” encouraging students to reflect on lifetime pathways that could be fulfilling for them. As sweeps, we share about challenging decisions we have made in our own lives, and about experiences and interactions that influenced us along the way. I enjoy these opportunities
to be in community with students, to hear their hopes and what they are struggling with. We provide encouragement for those who need it and hopefully lighten their burdens along the way by talking about our own successes and failures and by providing a listening ear.

Participation in Halftime has been meaningful to me. Spending a weekend interacting with students helped me to better understand their lives outside the classroom. It also provided an opportunity to reflect on my own journey and the challenging decisions that I have made along the way. Even though
I am at a very different life stage than the students, taking time to slow down and reflect on the big questions that frame the weekend leaves me refreshed and hopeful.

As someone who studies college students and student engagement, I know that Halftime is a great program for students in their sophomore and junior years. It provides a space to think about where they are going, what they want to do in the future, and hopefully make new connections along the way.

I also think Halftime is a model program for involving faculty in ways that are realistic and meaningful. In order to help faculty encourage students to engage in productive discernment at a retreat like this, the university is thoughtful about how to engage us. Staff provide preparation sessions that are short, helpful, and informative, with a focus on introductions and receiving information so we can feel comfortable and confident about the commitment. Staff also realize that participation is not part of the university’s reward structure for faculty, so they provide short commitments and thank all the participants at the end. They understand that faculty have busy lives and families, and they invite faculty families to come along. BC students loved hanging out with my kids during free time, and my kids still talk about going on retreats when they were little. A real benefit are the opportunities to get to know other faculty. I have made connections at retreats that continue to this day.

For both students and faculty, then, a retreat like Halftime can provide important opportunities to reflect on life purpose and engage in productive discernment. Whether on the trail or a retreat weekend, I’ve learned that being a Sweep can help lighten burdens, offer encouragement and make
sure no one is left behind.