Laila Lininger, 10, has a passion for dance, so her father, Jakob Lininger, recently signed her up to take ballet at the Grace School of Dance in Jackson, Michigan.
Laila’s four-year-old sister, Alana, always wants to take part in whatever her older sister is doing, so their father also enrolled her, M Live reported.
However, the number of students in the classroom on the first day intimidated little Alana, who has Down syndrome, Lininger explained.
Down syndrome is a condition in which an individual is born with an extra chromosome, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Alana’s reaction caught the attention of Lindsay Walsh, the dance school’s owner and director. She held the child in her arms to comfort and calm her.
Because of the gesture, Alana eventually became comfortable with the environment and joined her classmates.
Lininger said he was deeply moved by Walsh’s actions, noting, “I thought that was above and beyond.”
Lininger, who works as a painter, wanted to express his gratitude to Walsh, so he created a mural on the school’s building located at 106 E. Washington Avenue.
The dance school shared photos of the mural, featuring silhouettes of ballet dancers on a background of rainbow colors:
“They’ve had a lot of kids from the dance school and a lot of kids that were walking around downtown mimicking the poses of the silhouettes,” Lininger commented.
Ensuring Alana felt confident in the classroom, according to Walsh, came naturally.
“Part of my job as the teacher is just to make sure all the students feel safe and excited about dancing,” Walsh noted.
“So anytime a student is nervous or shy – I just try to do my best to make sure everyone is safe and comfortable because this should be a good experience for everyone,” she added.
Meanwhile, everyone was thankful for the special mural.
“I think it brings a lot of visibility now to our building that we did not have before,” Walsh explained, adding, “Now there is no question about what happens here.”