Students get lessons in ballroom dancing in North Philadelphia

NORTH PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- It was a special ballroom dancing competition at a school in North Philadelphia Tuesday morning.

You've heard of dancing with the stars, but today it was dancing with the students at The Honorable Luis Munoz Marin School in North Philadelphia.

Fourth grader Erick Medina said, "I thought it was going to be a little bit boring, but actually it's not."

A nonprofit organization called Dancing with the Students offers ballroom dancing to children in underserved communities as a way to enhance their arts education.

Omar Falcon, also in 4th grade said, "They taught us about swing tango meringue, the waltz. Then once we learned those we started practicing them and then we started doing our grand entrance."

Since these fourth graders first took their places on the floor 10 weeks ago, teachers have seen their self-esteem grow as well as their respect for each other.

Teacher Eric Snipe said, "You need programs like this to come in and show students there's something more than just say the corner store or the corner, period. There's an opportunity to use academics and education as a vehicle to get out of poverty."

This program certainly provides a lot of educational opportunities, but it's also just fun.

Erick added, "I think it's the best."

"It's really fun, like one to 10, a 10," fourth grader Leilani Sicard said.

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