Dance Programs Empowering Youth

The DEAEF Youth Dance Program continues to provide Positive and Healthy Alternatives to Drug Abuse and Misuse to our Communities.

The CDC has reported over 107,000 lives lost to drug overdoses in the past year. Given this tragic situation, the DEAEF continues to work passionately to reach youth with prevention messages and programming that they can relate to in those critical hours after school. 

The DEAEF is impressed every day by our teaching staff and their commitment and dedication to the young people they serve. In the face of difficult situations and spur of the moment challenges, they continue to inspire and uplift the young people they are working with through high-quality dance classes and positive mentorship.

This year, the YDP students were exposed to many styles of dance including cultural dances such as Flamenco, Indigenous Fusion, tap, ballet, hip hop, Brazilian,jazz and more. These experiences are engaging and provide a healthy outlet all while uniting people through dance. 

The DEAEF regional managers and instructors are trained to bring important education and messaging to youth about the dangers of drugs, focusing on wellness and self-confidence. DEA continues to be our most valuable partner, facilitating site visits and discussions with youth about drug facts, telling the "local story" of each community, and stressing the importance of positive decisions and healthy outlets, like dance.

We continue to make an impact by providing hope to children through the Youth Dance Program “one step at a time.”

As we near the end of 2022, the DEA Educational Foundation reflects upon over two decades of teaching prevention through education, our year-long celebration of the 10 year anniversary of the DEAEF Youth Dance Program, our expansion of all youth programs into nearly 80 cities (wth the dance program reaching nearly 55) and our reach through numerous community engagement events. Although this has been a year of continued challenges from emerging out of the pandemic and the overwhelming number of stressors in the world, the DEA Educational Foundation celebrates our everyday heroes; our amazing dance teachers, who work tirelessly to instill hope and bring joy to the youth and communities that we serve.

This year the DEAEF made our reach through both in-person and virtual programming and every day heard stories from our instructors about resilience, camaraderie, love, growth and support. We watched how dance led to healthy self-expression, teamwork and a healthy lifestyle. Whether through tears, laughter or excitement in telling of everyday stories, our instructors motivated all of us at the Foundation to look at new and innovative ways to reach our communities and fill people with hope.  

As we look to the future, with the resolve to work harder, reach more and seek good in our communities, I invite you to join the DEA Educational Foundation by making an end-of-year donation to the DEAEF Youth Dance Program. We are very thankful and deeply appreciative of your consideration to support the DEA Educational Foundation. Because of you, we will pave the way to a healthy and brighter future for the youth and communities that we reach. 

Celebrating 10 Years of Inspiring Youth, One Step at a Time

The DEA Educational Foundation (DEAEF) continues to make waves this summer through the reach of youth through its important flagship program, The DEAEF Youth Dance Program. All year we are celebrating the 10^th year anniversary of the dance program and in July we honored our administrators, teachers, partners and most importantly our youth through a special 10^th year anniversary campaign. The program reach is far and wide, inspiring thousands of youth through the positive, healthy and expressive form of dance. This 2022 year, the program will reach 65 cities (large and small) across the United States. 

This summer the DEAEF YDP has conducted dance camps, workshops and programming through our national programming and DEA’s Operation Engage. With the highest number of drug overdoses ever reported in the United States occurring this past year, now more than ever we need to reach our youth through prevention programs. Not only does the DEAEF YDP provide a healthy outlet and help to build self-confidence, it introduces key drug awareness education and messaging to youth in a relatable way. 

As we begin to plan for the fall 2022 assembly launches across the country we look forward to reaching thousands of students through the impressive work of our many dedicated dance partners and continuing to inspiring youth, one step at a time. 

Links:

• DEA Educational Foundation

The DEA Educational Foundation is thrilled to have reached students through the youth dance program in nearly 60 cities in the last year despite challenges with the global pandemic, keeping students active through virtual, hybrid and in-person programming. This year we celebrate our 10-year anniversary of the DEAEF YDP and “inspiring youth one step at a time!” We look forward to marking this momentous milestone by reaching thousands of new youth with positive and healthy messages through the art of dance!

The DEA Educational Foundation Youth Dance Program is honored to work with inspiring and talented women across the country. We celebrated Women’s History Month with our incredible partners at Culture Shock Las Vegas (led by Vangie Bisquera) with this powerful and moving video.  

DEAEF YDP will participate in several cities for DEA Operation Engage Year II. DEA Operation Engage “is a comprehensive community-level approach to address the drug epidemic through prevention strategies, facilitating conversations and collaboration with local partners.” The DEA Educational Foundation is proud to partner with Operation Engage as a youth engagement provider, having served all 11 cities in Year I and continuing with Year II through our flagship dance program, as well as our other youth programs in baseball, soccer, basketball, martial arts and art. 

We are thankful to our donors and supporters for helping us to continue to make an impact through education and prevention efforts.

Links:

• CSLV Video for Women's History Month

This year, the DEA Educational Foundation Youth Dance program continued to grow and thrive, despite challenges brought on by the pandemic. Combined with our other youth programming, we expanded to 69 cities, and kept thousands of students engaged with a positive and healthy after-school alternative to drugs in virtual, hybrid and in-person classes throughout the year. Our biggest youth program, the DEAEF Youth Dance Program, reached dozens of cities across the United States and featured many styles of dance including ballet, hip hop, cultural dance and more.  As we reflect on the past year, we would like to thank all our amazing teachers, program partners and Youth Dance Program staff and consultants who helped the kids to live their dreams in 2021 and beyond! In November, we did a special recognition of our teachers that have dedicated their time as role models to the youth. 

In 2022, we are thrilled to have the opportunity to continue our partnership with DEA’s Operation Engage, “a comprehensive approach that will target the top drug threat identified by the local DEA division while continuing to focus on drug trafficking, violence, and crime reduction.” In Year One of DEA’s Operation Engage, the DEA Educational Foundation provided youth programs, many of which were dance, in eleven cities throughout the United States. As we look toward Year 2, new programs including dance, baseball, basketball, martial arts, art and more will be delivered to youth and communities in our Operation Engage partnership cities. 

As we conclude this 2021 year and the Foundation’s celebration of “20 Years of Impact,” we reflect on how many lives we have positively impacted, one step at a time. Still, with a staggering number of drug overdoses last year alone, we know our mission is more important than ever. In 2022, we will celebrate the 10 Year Anniversary of the DEA Educational Foundation Youth Dance program, our flagship youth program. We look forward to continuing to reach young people with positive messaging and programming that keeps them active and engaged after-school. With gratitude, we thank you for your support to help keep our programs strong in 2022; it is because of you that we will continue to reach youth in our communities, allowing kids to dance and express themselves in a healthy way.