Berkeley Leader

Berkeley County School District’s annual STEP Camp came back this summer to showcase the talents of some of its fine arts students.

STEP stands for “special talent enrichment program.” The two-week summer program is held at Marrington Middle School of the Arts and is a chance for students who excel in the arts to receive specialized attention in different focus areas, pushing them to step outside their comfort zones and hone their artistic skills. Learn more about STEP.

In addition to specializing in their focus areas, the program also gives students a chance to meet and network with other students across Berkeley County School District; the program was open to any BCSD child who enjoys the arts, from fourth-grade and up.

This year’s STEP event wrapped up on July 28 with three performances and an art exhibition. Third through sixth-graders came together to play tubanos, bells, tambourines, hand drums, sticks, shakers and xylophones in their performance of “Wrecking Waves” (which they named themselves). They went on to perform the song “Lava” from the Pixar animated short video, and brought out the recorders to jam out to “Blue Suede Shoes.” They also sang “Over the Sea to Skye” (fans of the show “Outlander” might recognize it) and finished with “We Know the Way” on ukuleles.

Seventh through 11th-graders brought some Celtic music to the stage with their edition of “Wellerman” and “Danny Boy.” Choral performers also covered “Broadway Blockbusters” and then entertained the room with two multi-layered rhythmic pieces on a variety of drums.

Senior theatre students performed scenes from the production “Blithe Spirit,” “Arsenic and Old Lace” and “Harvey,” and then musical theatre students performed “The Audition Process,” where each participating student performed an “audition” for the next big Broadway show. The event wrapped up with dancers hip-hopping, twirling, jumping and jiving across the stage.

In between the student performances, families were invited to check out the art students’ gallery in the back of the school.

Be sure to check out more photos from Thursday’s event.

 

Original source can be found here.