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So I donated my DonorsChoose gift certificate to the project below, which is aimed at buying and installing a ballet barre in a dance classroom at a middle school in a high-poverty area that is trying to transform itself into an arts magnet school.

Why this project?

First, I like that the item in question is an infrastructure solution that will be used by hundreds of students for years if not decades. Long term, durable impact on lots of kids.

Second, this seemed much better than dance programs looking for ipods to play music on. I feel like the teacher knows what they are doing by looking at classical foundations.

You may ask how does ballet help kids in our schools when there are problems in all sorts of basic classes like math and English? For one thing, it's physical exercise, and it certainly seems we need more of that in all our schools. Additionally, these are kids who would probably never get access to the arts in classes outside of school, so this is an opportunity that absolutely matters. Additionally, ballet introduces them to French and requires real discipline; dance involves teamwork and creativity; and finally, dance is a way in which we confront our physical and emotional selves -- you sort of never know where it is going to lead.

This strikes me as the type of project that may not get lots of funding, because people don't see the arts as critical or related to academics, so I wanted to point it out to all of you, so if you feel the urge and have the means, please add even a small donation to help them reach their goal. I'm planning to give more myself.

http://www.donorschoose.org/donors/proposal.html?id=109321