UPDATE: THE DANCE HAS BEEN CANCELED DUE TO LACK OF RESPONSE.
If your idea of a good night is music, dancing, food and friends, mark July 23 on your calendar. That’s the night people with special needs will be treated to a summer dance at Northern Kentucky University hosted by students in the Kentucky Governor’s Scholars Program.
Special guests’ families, friends and partners also are invited to the dance, which will run from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the auxiliary gym of the Campus Recreation Center.
The dance will bring people of differing abilities together to celebrate community, said organizer Teresa Hoffmann, a faculty member in the Governor’s Scholars Program. “They are all participants in just a joyful evening.”
Hoffmann’s healthcare class of 20 students will be “elegant hosts,” she said. The students will show guests to tables, provide light refreshments of water and fruit, invite guests to dance and serve any other needs they may have. Other faculty members and resident assistants also will be on hand to help.
The dance isn’t a formal. No special attire is required. Hoffmann said she envisions a casual party where folks go to dance, listen to music or feel the music’s vibrations. She wants to offer an activity that includes people who may often feel isolated.
‘They are all participants in just a joyful evening.’
The Kentucky Governor’s Scholars Program is a highly competitive five-week summer residential program for rising high school seniors in the state. Established in 1983, the program aims to “enhance Kentucky’s next generation of civic and economic leaders,” according to its website. Colleges compete to host the scholars for three-year cycles. NKU, Morehead State University and Murray State University were selected as hosts for 2016 to 2018. This summer, 354 of the scholars are studying at NKU, Hoffmann said.
The program’s curriculum often includes service learning. Along those lines, Hoffmann’s healthcare students volunteer at the Given Campus of Stepping Stones near Cincinnati. The non-profit organization provides programs for children and adults with disabilities. It works to “increase independence, improve lives and promote inclusion,” according to its mission statement.
Through their volunteer work, Hoffmann’s students are learning to interact and communicate with people in different ways. They are learning patience, she said, and compassion. Her students have told her that their work at Stepping Stones is humbling because they are meeting people who live with extraordinary difficulties yet have happy, positive attitudes.
The dance will celebrate the relationships and connections formed at Stepping Stones and include the larger community in the fun, said Hoffmann, who organized similar dances in Louisville while working with the Governor’s Scholars Program in the past.
If you would like to attend, please call the NKU Governor’s Scholars Program office at 859-448-8820 by July 20 with the number in your party. Minors must be accompanied by an adult.
You’re invited …
Event: a summer dance for people with special needs and their families, friends and partners
Date: July 23
Time: 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Place: Northern Kentucky University, auxiliary gym in the Campus Recreation Center
Cost: free
Parking: free in the Kenton Drive Parking Garage
RSVP: by July 20 to 859-448-8820 with the number of people in your party. Minors must be accompanied by an adult.
For a campus map, click here.
Special Needs Northern Kentucky 