By Emma Canillo, Managing Editor
On Feb. 10, El Camino Student Government collaborated with Ralph Richardson to host a winter wonderland themed dance for all Ralph Richardson students and families to celebrate the holiday’s and the new year.
The Ralph Richardson Center is a school that offers diverse ways of education and learning to special needs students in the Carmichael area.
Having a population of around 60 students enrolled into the school, the families and children of Ralph Richardson have a lack of the fun, engaging activities that many other schools have. Some of these events include dances, rallies, spirit weeks and sports events.
Student Government Member and Coordinator of the winter wonderland dance Elaine Kistner (‘23) volunteered to host this event and explained the importance of holding this event for the children.
“These kids don’t get a lot of events—this was specifically a dance meant to feel like [the students] are in high school,” Kistner said.
Not only did the students get the opportunity to experience a dance similar to those of other schools, they also had the chance to be surrounded by a variety of EC students the entire night.
“A big obstacle for a lot of [the students] is just wanting to feel normal and feel just like any other kid,” said Elaine.
Originally set to be held in December 2022, a COVID-19 outbreak occurred amongst the students at Ralph Richardson, causing the dance to be postponed until February.
This setback did not stop Kistner from continuing to plan and keep the publicity for the dance alive.
She expressed that having an event where students and families can come together in a lighthearted setting is crucial for students.
“This wasn’t just any other event, this is something that means something to [the students] and something they don’t get all the time,” Kistner said.
Kistner and student government spent around two months preparing decorations, music and lighting, but their hard work was not what made the dance as special as it was.
“[The dance] definitely exceeded my expectations, but not necessarily in my planning or in what [student government] did, but just in experiencing that environment,” Kistner said. “That is not something that I’ve personally been around a lot, but getting to see the families and how much they care for these people [was special].”
Students and families of the children came dressed in fun, dance attire, and were offered food, drinks, photo booths and corsages handmade by EC’s Student Government.
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