Here’s a teacher you’ve just got to get a kick out of. He’s Edwin Sorto, a kindergarten teacher at KIPP Promise Academy, a public school in Washington, DC. In addition to his classroom responsibilities, Edwin is a professional salsa dancer, and he loves to teach his young students to dance, too!

To supplement the usual curriculum, Edwin has integrated dance into his lesson plans. He believes that learning to dance helps his students obtain a well-rounded education, and it teaches important life skills such as discipline and social skills. “They work incredibly hard at both academics and dance,” Edwin once explained. “This is just one more thing that keeps them engaged in school.” This amazing educator has the kids almost-expertly performing salsa, merengue, and bachata. He has even taught them choreography from Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” video.

Edwin was born in El Salvador, and immigrated to the United States at the age of 14. He was raised in a family where dance was a part of everyday life. Edwin believes that it’s best to learn how to dance when people are young because children pick up dance moves more easily and they are less inhibited than adults.

Edwin received his teacher training at Capital Teaching Residency, an organization which trains new educators in the DC area. There he partnered with a master teacher for one year at KIPP Promise Academy. Once he completed his training, he was allowed to create his own lesson plans. Now, groups of 25 to 30 students meet with him every day for his special afternoon classes where he leads physical education, art, and cultural activities.

When he’s not working with his kindergartners, Edwin travels around the country performing salsa with a dance team called Casineros. He also performs with Cazike, a Latin dance company run by his wife who also teaches at KIPP Promise Academy.

Enjoy this brief YouTube video of Edwin with his dancing kindergartners below: