KAPOLEI — Seventh-grader Jerome Solivar, who was flunking not so long ago, has turned himself into a B-plus student.

Eighth-grader Toni Takabayashi improved her grade-point average from 2.5 to 3.5, not for the money her parents offered for A's, but because she wanted something else.

Both strived for better grades so they could dance for Tracy Taylor. Students who have completed his Kapolei Middle School dance course can become "dance assistants," but only if they have a 3.0 GPA.

Taylor, who bears the impressive title of adapted/inclusive physical education specialist, introduced the course at Kapolei Middle four years ago. He uses 25 or more assistants, who help other students during their free time. This semester, six assistants are former students who attend Kapolei High School.

His dance course is the only one of its kind in the state public school system. The course's appeal can be summed up in one word: fun.

"You don't like have to sit down in this class, do papers and listen to someone talking for an hour," 13-year-old Toni said.

"We move around. It's like taking PE in an air-conditioned room."

The social and popular dance course is offered as an elective to sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders at the school, which operates on a multi-track system.

Sixth-graders are introduced to about 80 different dances; seventh-graders to 100; and eighth-graders to 70. The dances, which cover 1910 to the present, include foxtrot, waltzes, swing, polka, cha-cha, rumba and salsa; fad dances like the mashed potato, swim, twist and macarena; and the more recent electric slide and popping.

Taylor might talk about a circle dance called "looby loo" that originated in Europe.

It's about taking a hot bath with suds on a Saturday night during the World War II bombing raids, Taylor said. "You put your right foot in (to touch the water and shake off suds)," he noted. "If it sounds familiar, the U.S. soldiers brought it home, made it a faster dance and called it the "hokey pokey."

Grading is based on lessons on physical and health education, language arts, choreographic principles of dance, and science (developing questions and hypotheses). There's a written exam.

Taylor, the 2004 Leeward District teacher of the year, also stresses etiquette, appropriate public behavior and communication skills.

At semester's end Taylor takes students to the Rumours Nightclub for a semiformal function, which includes a buffet luncheon. Next month, about 200 students will attend this semester's outing.

"We try to provide them different options and opportunities of learning," Taylor said.

Jerome Solivar, 14, is a Taylor success story.

"I wasn't doing my work, not listening, not writing anything and talking too much in class," Jerome said. "I just came to school to be with my friends. Before, I just got D's and F's."

Jerome had to repeat the sixth grade.

But in the 2004 spring semester, he took the dance course. "I wasn't really interested, but ... I got to like it," Jerome said. "By the time the class was over, I had C's, B's and D's because I wanted to be a DA (dance assistant)."

His grades weren't good enough to qualify for DA. Taylor, however, told Jerome he would use him as a "DA in training" this semester if he earned a 3.0. And he did it.

"I surprised myself," Jerome said. "I believe now it's possible that I could even get a scholarship someday."

Through his Kapolei Middle School program — Taylor offers students with a 3.0 GPA additional incentive for good grades by nominating them for U.S. National Physical Education Achievement Academy education awards. "It creates a portfolio that may help them get a NPEA college scholarship someday," he said.

Toni Takabayashi was another underachiever.

"My parents offered me $20 for every A, but there are other ways to get money so I didn't need to do it by a report card," Toni said. "But I liked dance. I wanted to stay in, and the only way was to get a 3.0."

Taylor's course helps students in other ways.

Thirteen-year-old dance assistant Brooke Acuna overcame self-consciousness about her height by completing the course.

On the first day, Brooke said, "If anyone asks me to dance, I'm going to run away." Later she did just that. But she returned.

"I had this fear of dancing with boys because I was taller than everybody else," the 5-foot-9 Brooke said. "When I got used to it, I got to like it. Dance has helped me in the classroom by making me more confident."

Taylor says he was "one of the original latchkey kids." His early life involved a lot of moving around.

"I see a lot of myself in students like Jerome and other kids," said Taylor, who attended Lincoln School, Stevenson Intermediate, Kaiser High and the University of Hawai'i-Manoa.

"Most kids are alone a lot because their parents are working. It can create a lot of self-doubt."

Reach Rod Ohira at rohira@honoluluadvertiser.com.