Limelight.

Liz Gallego is a role model for the way dance teachers can influence learning in public schools. Her project, "Heroines of Mexican Independence," earned her a 2004 DisneyHand Teacher award. Through dance, Gallego's high school students learned about the lives and work of five notable Hispanic women including painter Frida Kahlo; Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, who became a nun in order to get an education; and Digna Ochoa, the human rights lawyer who was assassinated in 2001. The students created a rap number from newspaper reports about Ochoa, and performed a waltz to depict de la Cruz's early life.

The Dallas educator, who holds a BA and an MFA from Texas Woman's University, is one of 39 teachers nationwide selected to receive the Disney honor that consists of cash ($10,000 pills $5,000 for her school) and leadership training in how to develop collaborative communities. She says dance teachers bring much to the table when collaborating with their classroom counterparts. "I have insight into my students' personalities that other teachers do not have," she says. "I'm working with the instrument of the body, and as Martha Graham said, 'the body does not lie.' Dance teachers spend time putting together productions that allow us to get to know students on a personal level."

Gallego begins dance study at Molina High with the preferences of her students like salsa, cumbia, folkloric dance, and hip hop. "I take students from where they are in terms of interests and then begin to teach plie, rond de jambe, and a modern dance walk--skills that follow the national standards for dance," she says. "Over a period of time, they become more open to different things."