NANTICOKE, Pa. -- The Greater Nanticoke Area High School life skills class hosted its annual St. Patrick's Day dance on Wednesday. Students with intellectual disabilities from all across the Wyoming Valley were there to break it down.
"It's just an opportunity to give the kids the time to get together, to hang out, to dance, to be like everybody else," said life skills teacher Lori Dennis.
For those who volunteered, seeing the students smiling and decked out in green puts things in perspective.
"We live our daily lives going through the motions and don't even think about kids that can't go through it, so by doing this, it really gives us the type of knowledge and the type of experience that there are people out there, who don't go through normal daily life like we do every day," said senior Christopher Seiwell.
The students who came from across the area to show off their swift moves had a blast.
"It's great here. You get to meet a lot of new people, try to make a lot of new friends and also meet some old friends!" said senior Matthew Martinez.
"I love seeing my friends enjoying themselves with everybody in the different schools," senior Chassidy Perez said.
"When I see the big smiles on their faces after dancing with them or serving them food, it just makes me really happy," Seiwell said.
In all, this was an event that is beneficial for everyone involved.
"They gain new friendships because a lot of them transfer in between schools, so if they go into a new school, they'll have someone they're familiar with. It gives the teachers a chance to interact with each other. It gets some of the general education students a chance to be with students who have disabilities."