Today we share an interview with Colby Nielson, a dance teacher in Palmer, Alaska. His family has started a wonderful project using dance as a means to touch the hearts of people with special needs.
Q. How did the Super Stars Begin?
A. The Super Stars came from an idea when my mom, Michelle Deemer, and my sister, Shanelle Gangstad, went down to speak at a national special needs convention. While there they saw a singing group that was made up of people with special needs. They liked the idea so much that when they returned home they wanted to start a dance team with special needs, dance being big in our background. They rented a small 12×12 space and Shanelle began teaching a few of her friends from the special needs program at the high school, which she was heavily involved in. From those original 5 we have grown to 25.
Q. Other than building and space limitations, what are some other
challenges you have faced?
A. Some other challenges include not being able to increase price above $5
a class due to low budgets of our students, not being able to change the
time/day of the class due to our special needs students being very
strict on their schedules and not doing well with change. We have to
deal with providers being the ones who take them to class so getting to
talk to their gardians or parents is almost always through third party.
Trying to schedule performances is tough because they often have special
olympics activities on the weekends and again with the having to stick
to a same schedule all the time.
Continue reading “Super Stars Interview Helping Kids with Special Needs“