First period at Lake Highlands High School looked a little different for some students. They didn't get out their books. They put on their ballet shoes.
The students are on the Ballet Folklorico team, which recently took home 8 trophies in the Bailes de Mi Tierra Folklorico Competition. Three of them were for 1st place.
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"Oh, the hardest thing is learning the steps," LHHS Ballet Folklorico Team Sr. Lt. Javier Lopez said. "At first it made me feel nervous. A lot of people are looking at me. I'm just like, 'Oh God, please. I don't want to mess up in front of everyone!'"
"They did so wonderful," LHHS Ballet Folklorico Director Lydia Corwyn said smiling. "Trophies are just a nice little cherry on top!"
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The team performed 14 dances in all at the competition in Austin.
"It has so much strength, so much power, so much capability; 'cause it's like, you look at their steps and it's like, 'Woah,'" LHHS Ballet Folklorico Team Captain Isabel Diaz said. "I like putting a whole routine together and then showing it off to people and being like, this is what I can do!"
At LHHS, Ballet Folklorico isn't an after-school activity. It's part of the curriculum.
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"It's important to not only have Folklorico because it is dancing, but also because it's specific to a culture," Corwyn said. "These students feel that, hey, I feel myself reflected when I'm part of this program, and even some of our kids who aren't Hispanic, they still feel the bond of the team, and they still get to learn about a culture and understand and respect it."
Lake Highlands High School was the first in Richardson ISD to have a Ballet Folklorico team. Since then, the district has expanded the program to other schools.
"It made my heart sing just to see how much it's grown," Corwyn said. "To look at my kids and be like, we started something here!"