On December 5, 2019, YPAD officially re-launched to the public. A lot of you have seen us sharing our progress with YPAD and may have been wondering what it is.
What is YPAD?
YPAD courses are the foremost, research based, educational courses for dance professionals and the dance industry as a whole. The intention of Youth Protection Advocates in Dance® is to provide dance professionals with the skills and resources to protect and develop healthy, happy dancers. Through the use of online courses, YPAD courses educate dance studios and communities worldwide on the core elements in constructing an environment focused on the well-being of kids and a sustainable, safe future for dance.
The Youth Protection Advocates In Dance® Safety + Wellness Certification Course offers dance professionals all the educational resources found within the YPAD Safety Course with the benefit of four supplementary modules. These four modules allow dance professionals to dive deeper into the wellness and development of youth dancers. Through these additional educational modules, dance professionals will gain a more comprehensive skill set to work with and understand young students. Key areas of focus will include: social media; media safety; today’s dance culture, developmentally appropriate artistry, body image; nutrition; disordered eating, and bullying; conflict resolution.
Why does this matter?
Essentially in two ways:
This standardizes the safety we are providing to your children. You can rest assured knowing that each of our instructors is background checked as well as First Aid/CPR certified to provide the highest level of care for your child in an emergency situation.
We have also completed the Wellness Program at our studio. This means that you can be guaranteed that our studio will pick and create age appropriate costuming, music, lesson plans and choreography. This is something we, as a studio, already felt strongly about. However, we are thrilled to have found a program that has backed all of our choices through scientific and social research, and has created a course that all of our teachers are able to complete!