If you are or were lucky enough to grow up as a dancer, you know first hand that dance training imparts strengths that serve us well in all walks of life. The National Dance Institute of New Mexico concisely sums up some of the most important lessons in its "core four" teachings: work hard, do your best, never give up, and be healthy. Dance teachers who can instill these values in their students significantly impact those students' lives.

This is exactly what NDINM does. The organization's in-school program offers students in New Mexico public schools dance training (with live musical accompaniment) and produces year-end performances with over 500 students per show. More advanced levels of training and performance are offered through after school programs and dance teams. Remarkably, these opportunities are made available to all students, regardless of parents' ability to pay, by a sliding scale tuition policy. "Affordability is never going to be an obstacle for any child to participate," says Artistic Director Liz Salganek. "It's important to us that the programs be representative of and serve the community."

Photo Credit: NDI New Mexico

The results are compelling. In addition to learning to dance, gaining social skills, and building confidence through acquiring new abilities and performing together, NDINM students excel academically, achieving better science, reading, and math scores than non-NDINM counterparts on standardized test.