How a Surrey school dance became a leadership initiative

A junior dance project at a South Surrey secondary school has blossomed into a fully functioning leadership legacy program.

Elgin Park Secondary began their junior dance program in late 2023 with the idea to bring back social community-focused dances after the COVID-19 pandemic.

The idea has since transformed, not only in making dances possible but also teaching leadership along the way.

Mia Binning is a Grade 12 student at Elgin Park who’s been a part of this project since the beginning.

Binning says she and another student who has since graduated started this with hopes of connecting the graduating years and building that high school experience so many look forward to.

“I think we both noticed that, even after the pandemic, school spirits were low, and it was kind of hard to build a culture off of a place where kids only really come to because they have to,” shared Binning.

“When you imagine a high school experience you think about the movies with the homecomings and proms and all of that fun.”

She says the goal was to bring that forward and create culture in a fun way for everyone to share.

These dances centre around the Grade 8, 9 and 10 students, helping them embrace a new school or new semester and make memorable experiences.

“It builds that sense of belonging, especially for the Grade 8’s coming in,” said Binning.

With the previous senior director graduating the year prior, Binning has since taken on the role, changing her perspective on many facets.

“This position has taught me to take a step back sometimes,” said Binning, explaining that she is a bit of a perfectionist.

This year she’s learned it is OK to step back and let someone else lead and it is important to collaborate. Binnings says she’s learned a lot from others involved and has discovered she is a better partner to work with if she follows what she’s learned.

This is partly where the leadership initiative stemmed from.

Binning is graduating this year and doesn’t want her leaving to mean the dances will, too, which is where Sarah Coviello steps into the picture.

Coviello is a Grade 11 student who has been honoured with Binning’s previous title of junior director for these dances.

Binning shares that next year she is leaving Coviello with her current title, passing the legacy down in hopes it will only continue as an Elgin Park tradition and helpful leadership initiative.

“I’ve learned a lot about how to lead,” shared Coviello, mentioning how much Binning has taught her this year.

“We’ve done a lot of work this year to turn this into more of a mentorship program,” explained Binning.

Coviello shared that the planning of these dances with Binning and everything else involved behind it has taught her how to set an example, how to plan and how to organize events, which she believes is a very transferable skill to have towards her future.

“This taught me a lot about the kind of person I want to be and the kind of person I am,” said Coviello.

This year Billing also wanted to focus on making these dances accessible to everyone, which entailed some research and listening to their fellow students.

Billing and Coviello went to each club, extracurricular and class to personally invite students to attend their dances and learn what would make it more accessible for all parties.

The senior and junior director learned that lowering the ticket prices and investing in making the lighting less flashy for those on the neurodiverse spectrum were all helpful ideas in improving the number of attendees.

Students also seemed to like that these dances were being run by their elder peers.

Coviello mentions that it is one thing when a teacher is telling you to go to a dance or it’s a school-planned event, and another when it’s peers creating an event for peers.

“I think it makes it feel more special because this is something we made together,” said Coviello.

Binning shares that none of the money that comes from ticket sales is for their own profit; instead, it is money that will go right back into these dances.

Two dances are held every year, breaking up the two semesters of the school year, which was done purposely.

Binning says a new semester is like starting a new school year all over again – there will be new teachers, new classrooms and new classmates. These dances continue to promote that community element that some may shy away from in day-to-day interactions.

Coviello shares that the next dance is called “The Blossom Ball,” which symbolizes spring and new beginnings, a perfect metaphor for what they are trying to achieve.

Both Binning and Coviello hope that even though their school does plan a bunch of community-building activities for the school, they can help in that building of leadership and school spirit even if it’s just a little bit.

Elgin Park’s next junior dance will take place on April 23.