On Pointe offers dance and vocal camps for special needs students

Christy Sierakowski and Leslie Miller in one of the dance studios at On Pointe. Photo by Emily Caswell METAMORA — Since opening eight years ago, On Pointe School of Dance has offered summer camps to keep students dancing and singing all summer long.

This summer they are starting two new camps — We Can Too! Dance Camp and We Can Too! Vocal Camp — that assure that all kinds of kids, even those with special needs, will get the chance to sing and dance.

Owners Christy Sierakowski and Leslie Miller decided to start the new camps after Sierakowski met a dance studio owner in Fenton last summer who was running a similar camp. With about 80 kids attending his camp, he told Sierakowski parents in his neck of the woods couldn’t have been happier when he started offering the summer camp because there weren’t too many summer activities available for special needs children.

Sierakowski immediately called her cousin Katrina Wandrie, who has been a special education teacher with Lapeer Community Schools for five years and asked her opinion. Wandrie agreed that adding the camps to the line up at On Pointe would be a great addition and even volunteered to co-teach at the camps.

“I think dance instruction helps different parts of (kids’) brains,” said Sierakowski.

Sierakowski developed the dance camp first but when On Pointe vocal teacher Lauren Ball found out about it, she said she wanted to add a vocal We Can Too! Camp as well.

Thanks to some referrals from Wandrie, so far Sierakowski has had a few campers sign up already.

“They’re really excited,” she said.

The camp is open to students age 3 and older. Sierakowski said she hopes to have about 15 campers enrolled in each camp.

On Pointe is wheelchair accessible, so Sierakowski said no matter what the special need may be, she welcomes the camper.

Sierakowski said along with singing and dancing she hopes the camp will offer some emotional benefits to kids, who may have felt left out in the past and most important, some summer fun.

The cost is $50 each for the vocal and dance camp or $90 for those who sign up for both.

The dance camp runs 5:30-6:30 p.m. and the vocal camp runs 6:30- 7:15 p.m. Tuesday, July 27, Thursday, July 29, Tuesday, Aug. 3 and Thursday, Aug. 5.

To find out more about summer camp offerings or to sign up for the We Can Too! Camps, contact On Pointe at 810-678-2903. On Pointe is located at 3565 S. Lapeer Rd. Details: www.onpointedance.com.