Dance Partnership Brings Hip-Hop to Schools
In Fall 2021, SDUSD Dance Resource Teacher Candice Narlock got a call from Tamaira Sandifer. Tamaira “Miss Tee” Sandifer is known for her dance studio and community work in Sacramento, where her company, Studio T Arts and Entertainment, has served over 5,000 individuals across three counties, five school districts, and 52 school sites - every year for the past 15 years. Miss Tee is on Forbes magazine's "Culture 50 Champions List” and she is one of the State of California Legislature’s “Woman of the Year” for 2022. She’s well known in the field of dance, and she wanted to bring her programs to San Diego!
Miss Tee specializes in working with at-risk youth in high poverty areas, and she seeks to create a supportive positive school climate, encourage student voice and agency, and create student leaders through culturally relevant teaching. And now students ages 12-18 at Hoover High, Morse High, Lincoln High, and Fulton K-8 have access to her classes.
Since the start of the 2021-2022 school year, all students at these schools have access to PassToclass.com, an online database of dance classes, inspirational videos, well-being advice, and entrepreneurship guidance. The program, which features 75+ instructional videos and over 100 hours of engaging content, was created by Miss Tee to address Social Emotional Learning (SEL) and give students in under-resourced communities key tools to understand and express their own emotions in a culturally relevant way.
In addition to the online program, Miss Tee and Studio T’s Lead Dance Captain Miss Hannah Feuerwerker travel to San Diego once a month for one-hour dance pop-ups at each school site. Students learn dance movements but also the importance of collaboration, encouraging others, and self-worth.
The partnership between San Diego Unified and Studio T will continue through the summer as well as the 2022-2023 school year. Dance Resource Teacher Candice Narlock says, “Watching Miss Tee work with youth is truly inspiring. Her methods of encouraging and challenging students in dance and in life creates a safe space for all students to engage. There is joy and accomplishment on each student’s face after every class.”