Each year, North hosts a Project Dance event. This year, Team Polaris and Student Council are partnering to present Project Dance: Bloom. This year’s Project Dance: Bloom is happening on Sunday Feb. 21, 2026 in North’s auxiliary gym. There will be snacks, drinks, face painting, dancing and much more. The event is dedicated to creating a positive place for people of all abilities. People from all over the St. Charles community come together and take part in the various activities at the dance.
This event is made to raise awareness for the community of people who have different abilities and bring them into our daily life. With all the contributions made by North’s clubs and local organizations, Project Dance: Bloom has been brought into existence to recognize, support and celebrate the special needs community.
The event is put together by a lot of different people. This includes North’s Team Polaris and Student Council. It also includes organizations in the community like the St Charles Park District Dance Academy, who prepare the crowd for the students performance with multiple routines and the D303 Special Olympics, who allows the students to perform their morale dance. D303 elementary and middle school students who are a part of the Special Education programs are also affiliated with the event. Former North students who used to be a part of the RISE program typically attend as well.
To make Project Dance: Bloom happen, Team Polaris votes on the aspects of the dance. They vote on the theme for the year and then the song for their choreographed dance. They decide which activities and competitions are going to take place based on their votes. Then, they choreograph their dance and practice it at Team Polaris meetings. The dance will be performed multiple times throughout the event. The event costs $5 to get in, or $15 for families. Once they have collected the money from the event, the club votes on where the proceeds will be allocated to. All of the money gets donated to the organizations in the area who support individuals with disabilities, the club just decides which ones.
Many of North’s own clubs contribute to all the different parts of the event. Peer leadership helps with the temporary tattoo booth, National Art Honors Society and Art Club help with the face painting station, the dance team assists in choreographing their morale dance and Student Council organizes events where the students perform their dance.
Katherine Richter, co-adviser of Project Dance and a teaching assistant for the RISE program at North, is one of the many individuals who contribute to Project Dance. She believes that this event is important to bring people of all abilities, including North alumni, together to celebrate and have fun.
“They get to come back and really celebrate with individuals that are younger and older, and the whole community comes together, it’s a fun event,” said Richter.
This event is an important opportunity for our community to come together and recognize some of the individuals who we disregard unintentionally.
“[Project Dance] raises awareness for the fact that, sometimes you’ll see some kiddos with different abilities, maybe they utilize different types of equipment to move around the building. But a lot of times we forget that those individuals grow up. So it’s a really fun time to be able to invite those kiddos back into the building,” said Richter.
The students at Team Polaris enjoy the opportunity to express themselves and show their hard work off to the community and their families. Some of these students are Iza Boniak and Teagan Phetsisouk. Their favorite activities during the event are being able to move around and have fun with their peers.
“My favorite part of the [event] is dancing [with my friends,]” said Boniak.
Phetsisouk’s favorite part of the event also includes the dancing with the other people on the dance floor.
“[I like doing] cartwheels, spinning and twirling on the stage [with the other students,]” said Phetsisouk.
Everyone in the community, North star or not, is invited to attend the event this weekend.
“It’s a really great opportunity to come out and be a part of that community and support [the special needs] community in our everyday life,” said Richter.
