Over the past three months, about 500 fifth-graders have learned how to waltz, fox trot and rumba. The Chicago Public Schools students are taking part in a new ballroom dance program called “Having a Ball.”

CPS officials and teachers say it’s not those dance steps that are important. It’s the lessons the kids have learned that extend well beyond the dance floor.

Chicago Public Radio’s Lynette Kalsnes followed students from James Madison Elementary School from the first class to this past Saturday’s regional dance competition.