SHINE is a nationally recognized, innovative, curriculum-based, after-school program for middle school girls. Utilizing kinesthetic learning, SHINE combines formal dance training with rigorous math instruction to improve girls’ math scores and spark their interest in STEM.
MATH+DANCE=SUCCESS covers national math standards from 6th-8th grade, while improving overall girls’ confidence and attitudes towards math through a positive feedback loop, resulting in higher test scores and participation in classes.
SHINE girls have seen 100% improvement in math scores and confidence as measured by pre/post tests and surveys across several programs in numerous states. SHINE has received positive feedback from national media including CNN, CBS, Fox, the Boston Globe—and most importantly from the girls, parents, and teachers. Short-term objectives of empowering 6th-8th grade female students with both the confidence and mathematics skills to embrace math leads into the long-term goal of creating a pipeline of next-generation leaders in STEM fields. SHINE is currently taught in Washington DC, Chicago, and Boston- BAKERSFIELD IS THE FIRST city in California and on the West Coast to offer SHINE via a partnership with KDA.
Supporting local youth in education pursuits
Harnessing self-esteem and confidence on stage and in the classroom
Inspiring young women to pursue STEM fields
Nurturing a love of mathematics
Empowering women across America
With support from Chevron and the Chevron Women’s Employee Network, KDA welcomes back SHINE for Girls: MATH + DANCE = SUCCESS live and in-person to the Kern County area after a four-year hiatus due to the pandemic! SHINE is a free, one-week program that combines dance with a tailored math curriculum to create an environment for young girls (6th-8th grade) to explore math in a unique and creative way. We strive to not only improve mathematical skills, but also empower students to chase after their passions with confidence!
Led by dancing mathematician, Wendy Wisheropp-Brice, SHINE 2023 applications are now open to students and mentors to apply to program.
Download the SHINE for Girls: DANCE = MATh = SUCCESS 8.5 x 11 fliers below!
Friday, July 21 – Student Application Deadline
Friday, July 21 – Mentor Application Deadlin
Tuesday, July 25, 9:00 – 11:00 am – Mentor Training Session
Monday, July 31 – Friday, August 4, 8:00 am – 1:00 pm – SHINE Math + Dance Camp
Friday, August 4, 12:00 pm – SHINE Ceremony: Certificates of Completion + Performance
Each session of SHINE serves 25 girls and 5 mentors. An online application is required for SHINE girls and mentors. SHINE staff review applications and offer acceptance based upon applications. Girls not able to join the current session of SHINE will be offered a place in a future SHINE session.
| SHINE GIRLS|
SHINE girls are 6th-8th grade girls interested in improving math scores, developing confidence, learning about STEM careers, and participating in a program that empowers women.
| SHINE MENTORS |
SHINE mentors are local high school or college women who have qualified based on their math background, tutoring experience, dance experience, attitude and enthusiasm, and the results of a background check. The mentor training involves a customized online certification system along with a half-day mentor training session.
Mentors receive:
- Training in working with young girls and teaching math and dance
- The opportunity to give back to their local communities and advocate for women in STEM
- Hands-on experience in the service sector
- Leadership opportunities at a young age
- A space to enhance their own skills through teaching and channel their own creativity
- Access to a national network of women in STEM
- The possibility of pursuing multi-faceted SHINE for Girls work through our quickly growing national nonprofit during the summers
- Recommendations and referrals for internships, colleges, and graduate schools
Every middle school teacher has had a girl in a math class say, “I can’t.” SHINE turns the “I can’t” around by creating an environment in which girls not only realize that they can, but that they want to. SHINE consistently improves girls’ math scores and sparks their interest in mathematics.
Utilizing kinesthetic learning, movement and action replaces more passive forms of learning, such as listening to a lecture. We have all forgotten facts once memorized in a classroom, but we seem to be able to remember dance moves we once learned. By connecting the different ways in which we learn, SHINE enables effective understanding and retention of information in addition to imbuing abstract mathematical concepts with a physical meaning.
For example, SHINE introduces algebra through choreography: girls can create a simple dance of three twirls followed by a jump and will write down 3x + y where x = twirl, y = jump. Through dancing, girls realize that 3(x+y) = 3x + y + 2y. Before they say “I can’t do algebra,” they already have. This begins the positive feedback loop of girls believing in themselves, and their confidence stems from knowing they have the ability to succeed.
SHINE’s proprietary curriculum has been honed over several years and has provided consistent reproducible results.
SHINE provides girls with the opportunity to become engaged in STEM and assume leadership. Women in high school and college lead the sessions and also benefit from the experience by engaging in a network of women in STEM.
The innovative and proprietary SHINE curriculum features 3 different levels and covers the following topics: 1) Arithmetic and Order of Operations 2) Fractions, Decimals & 3) Pre-algebra 4) Coordinate Geometry 5) Planar Geometry 6) Probability and Statistics 7) Advanced Word Problems
A typical day in the SHINE for Girls program will include:
- Snacks and Bonding – SHINE mentors check in with their girls. Mentors review any homework and challenge problems from the previous session.
- Kinesthetic Learning Activities – Each session a new math topic is introduced through kinesthetic learning- based activities. These activities are designed to teach the concepts in a new way and excite the girls about the material.
- Dance – Girls learn dance in a formal setting from an experienced dancer. They will learn a dancer’s warm up and stretching routine, practice technical dance exercises, and rehearse choreography that will be performed in the final event. Attitude, confidence, teamwork, and dedication will be emphasized.
- Small Group Tutoring – Students join their mentors to review customized math problems corresponding to their curriculum level and the session’s topic. Girls are encouraged to work together, support one another, and lead the group through problems.
- Final Day of SHINE– Girls perform choreography in front of family, friends, teachers, complete with costumes, awards, and snacks. Parents and teachers will have the opportunity to speak with their students’s mentor about their students’s progress.
Wendy Wisheropp-Brice was born and raised in Delano, CA, where she first stepped into the dance studio at the ripe age of 4 and fell in love. She began assisting classes at Precision Dance Center (formerly Darlene’s Dance workshop) and began teaching her own classes as she entered high school. She’s trained in all styles: Ballet, Tap, Jazz, HipHop, Lyrical, Contemporary, Pointe and spent years as a dance teacher for all ages. She choreographed for the competition team at PDC and has also taught locally at American Dancer’s Workshop.
She’s trained with Melinda Cordell, Greg Russell, Miguel Zarate, Dee Caspery, Marty Kudelka, Mandy Moore, Mia Michaels, Richard Elszy, Donna Sheperd, and many others.
Wendy spends her days in the classroom as a full time math teacher at Liberty High School and part time fitness instructor at LVL Fitness and Climb Bakersfield. Wendy attended Bakersfield College where she attained her Associate’s Degree in Mathematics and certificate in Communication and was selected Math Student of the Year (2010). Upon graduating, she transferred to CSU, Bakersfield to complete her Bachelor in Science, Mathematics and Single-Subject Teaching Credential. While attending CSUB, Wendy was selected as a NOYCE Scholarship recipient 2-years in a row for her dedication to her studies and desire to educate in a STEM field.
Wendy just completed her tenth year in the classroom. She began teaching at Robert F. Kennedy High School in Delano and after five years, transferred to Liberty High School. Though teaching Math full time and dance part time, Wendy decided to head back to school to go after another goal. In 2018, Wendy obtained her Masters in Education, Curriculum and Instruction, from Fresno Pacific University.
Though no longer in the dance studio full time, Wendy loves dance and still manages to sneak in master teacher and choreography guest spots at local studios. She is working to create a CTE- Dance Class in the coming year for Liberty High School, so that all students can access dance and find the same love for dance that her very first teacher, Darlene, gave to her.
Wendy currently teaches 9-12 grade Advanced Algebra, GATE Geometry, and AP Statistics.
Image courtesy of Joy Kamel.
SHINE is FREE to all participants and is made possible by generous donations from our community. You can help others to SHINE:
- $100 affords snacks and water for one SHINE session
- $175 affords one SHINE tuition
- $250 affords one SHINE Curriculum
- $875 affords five SHINE tuitions
- $3,650 affords one SHINE session
- $14,600 affords an entire year (four sessions) of SHINE
To date, Kern Dance Alliance has graduated a total of 163 SHINE Girls and Mentors. As the only branch in California and on the West Coast, KDA is proud to offer the SHINE program free of charge to all participants thanks to the generous funding of sponsors and private donations including Chevron, Junior League of Bakersfield, The Women’s and Girls’ Fund of Kern County/Kern Community Foundation, Cynthia Lake Charitable Trust, Robert Grimm Family Foundation, Bakersfield Californian Foundation, Sean and Jennifer Maguire, and Garces Memorial High School.
Fall 2020 served 15 girls and 5 mentors
Session results according to SHINE pre/posttest results:
Girls reported:
- 100% of girls scored higher on their post-test problems after experiencing a SHINE lesson.
- 100% of SHINE girls stated that the program helped improve their math skills and confidence.
Parents reported:
- 100% of parents felt that SHINE had helped their girl improve in their math and confidence.
Parents also felt their girls had gained life skills. The following are those kills ranked the highest:
- Confidence
- Encouraging their girls to try their best
- Math skills
Apart from measurable results, KDA has learned the greatest from SHINE girl + mentor testimonials at the culmination of each session:
This is the BEST program I have ever been a part of!! I cant wait to come back again next time. -SHINE Girl
SHINE for Girls is the program I wished I could’ve been a part of as a young teen! I remember being that age and not knowing what I really liked or how to feel comfortable in my own skin at school. Now we’ve created this program perfectly made to help girls deal with those exact feelings! Through mentorship and tutoring we show girls what it looks like to be a woman in STEM, and how they can get there too! We also use dance as a way to enforce their math skills and help build the confidence to put themselves out there and SHINE both on stage and in the classroom. – Jessica Reyes, SHINE Lead Mentor
Fall served 23 girls and 13 mentors
Session results according to SHINE pre/posttest results:
Girls reported:
- 100% loved working with their mentor
- 84% agreed SHINE improved their dance skills
- 79% of girls feel more confident both IN and OUT of math class
- 68% of girls math skills were improved
Parents reported:
- 90% of parents felt that SHINE had helped their girl improve in their math and confidence
Parents also felt their girls had gained life skills. The following are those kills ranked the highest:
- Confidence
- Cooperation/Teamwork
- Dedication
- Encouraging their girls to try their best
Fall served 25 girls and 10 mentors
Session results according to SHINE pre/posttest results:
80% of girls feel more confident both IN and OUT of math class
100% of girls feel proud of what the accomplished during the program
Fall served 22 girls and 6 mentors
Session results according to SHINE pre/posttest results:
- 95% of SHINE Girls reported an improvement their math skills.
- 100% of SHINE Girls reported an improvement in their confidence level.
- 95% of SHINE parents have stated that their girls reported a heightened interest in STEM and dance.
Spring served 19 girls and 9 mentors
Session results according to SHINE pre/posttest results:
- 93% of SHINE Girls reported an improvement their math skills.
- 100% of SHINE Girls reported an improvement in their confidence level.
- 100% of SHINE parents have stated that their girls reported a heightened interest in STEM and dance.
Fall served 15 girls and 8 mentors
Session results according to SHINE pre/posttest results:
- 100% of SHINE Girls reported an improvement their math skills.
- 100% of SHINE Girls reported an improvement in their confidence level.
- 93% of SHINE parents have stated that their girls reported a heightened interest in STEM and dance.
Spring served 12 girls and 6 mentors
Session results according to SHINE pre/posttest results:
- 97% of SHINE Girls reported an improvement their math skills.
- 100% of SHINE Girls reported an improvement in their confidence level.
- 93% of SHINE parents have stated that their girls reported a heightened interest in STEM and dance.
Bakersfield Now – KBAK/Fox 58 KDA’s free SHINE program combines dance, math while boosting overall self-confidence for girls
CNN “Can’t do math? Dance it out”
CBS Evening News “Dance Program Shows Girls and Math Can Add Up”
Boston Globe “In After-School Program, Girls Link Elegance of Dance and Math”
FOX 25 “New Program Uses Dancing to Get Children Excited About Math and Science”
Education Week “MIT Student’s After-School Program Uses Dance to Improve Girls’ Math Skills”
Edutopia “Kinesthetic Learning: Moving Toward a New Model for Education”
MIT Alumni – Slice of MIT “Girls SHINE Dancing Hip Hop Variables”
MIT Community Service Fund “SHINE for Girls”
MIT News Office “MIT Students Help Middle-School Girls SHINE in Dance and Math”
MIT Public Service Center “Math and Movement”
Kern County Family Magazine “Kern Dance Alliance First on West Coast to Present SHINE Program”
KUZZ Radio “Prestigious Dance Program Gets Middle School Girls Into Math”
The Bakersfield Californian “Girls to Shine in Dance and Math Program”
NBC/KGET Channel 17 “New Program is Boosting Girls’ Confidence While Boosting Their Math Scores”
NBC/KGET Channel 17 “SHINE program incorporating math and dance for middle school girls.”
ABC/Channel 23 “Kern Dance Alliance Shine for Girls: Math + Dance = Success”
SHINE CLASS- Fall 2019
SHINE CLASS- Fall 2018
SHINE CLASS- Fall 2017
