You could call Mrs. Huibregtse’s fourth graders the Congdon class choreographers.

“Our teacher comes up with dances to do in front of the school for her class every year. And we kind of get to share our dance to the whole school to get their body moving,” Aspen Boyechko, a fourth grader in her class, said.

It’s not just about getting exercise but also giving growing brains a break.

“They’re 9 and 10. So once they’ve had instruction where they need to sit still for 15-20 minutes, they’re pretty maxed out,” Sarah Huibregtse said.

So she breaks up the routine with movement. Boyechko said her favorite is playing on the playground. Her classmate Evan Zhou likes to just run around.

“It kind of like refreshes our brain,” he explained.

Huibregtse was a dancer growing up, and she’s tapped into that passion for her students and every child at Congdon Park Elementary School.

“We picked a song, which was a lengthy process,” Huibregtse said. “They told me some moves that they wanted or did not want in the dance. Then I choreographed it and taught it to my kiddos.”

Then they made a video to teach other classes. And Friday morning, they all danced together at the monthly all-school assembly.

“It kind of gets your brain working and it kind of makes you more awake so then you can learn really well,” Boyechko said.

That gets an A+ from elementary school teachers. Huibregtse said brain breaks that involve exercise make a “huge, huge difference.”

“It’s obvious that once our students get some movement in, they’re much more capable of continuing to learn,” she said.