Have you ever watched a step team perform? You feel the beat deep down inside and you just can’t sit still. At least that’s how I felt watching the Frederick Douglass Step Team perform. (Click here to see them in action!)
You might be wondering why I might be blogging about a high school step team. Community Place of Greater Rochester, which offers several United Way-funded programs, also hosts a Step Off competition each year. The uniforms each team wears are incredible, but they're also expensive. So, we wanted to reward the team that was able to -collectively - increase their GPA the highest over the school year by helping them pay for their uniforms. The Douglass team showed the greatest academic improvement, so we sponsored them.
To be a member of this step team, which is run by Community Place, the students have to fill several requirements. They have to have a GPA of at least a 2.25 and do community service. Most of the team members raised their GPA from a 2.25 up to a 3.75. They practice every day for several hours. Let me tell you- it’s a lot harder than it looks! I tried doing a couple step moves and my feet and hands were numb!
Since the Frederick Douglass school closed at the end of the school year, the members of the team are going on to different schools. They will be starting at School Without Walls, Edison, and Wilson – some will go to MCC in the fall. But all the steppers all agreed that they will stay together as a team - thru the Community Place.
Leaving Douglass was really hard for this 21 person team, but they have become more like a family because of this. As one of the steppers told me, it’s not just a past time- it’s an obsession. I saw this obsession first hand. Once they started steppin - they wanted to go thru all of their favorite routines.
These students have learned a bigger life lesson than they were planning on. They joined the team for fun and they walked away with more than they ever planned on… including better grades and a stronger commitment to our community. And, that’s the big win.
You might be wondering why I might be blogging about a high school step team. Community Place of Greater Rochester, which offers several United Way-funded programs, also hosts a Step Off competition each year. The uniforms each team wears are incredible, but they're also expensive. So, we wanted to reward the team that was able to -collectively - increase their GPA the highest over the school year by helping them pay for their uniforms. The Douglass team showed the greatest academic improvement, so we sponsored them.
To be a member of this step team, which is run by Community Place, the students have to fill several requirements. They have to have a GPA of at least a 2.25 and do community service. Most of the team members raised their GPA from a 2.25 up to a 3.75. They practice every day for several hours. Let me tell you- it’s a lot harder than it looks! I tried doing a couple step moves and my feet and hands were numb!
Since the Frederick Douglass school closed at the end of the school year, the members of the team are going on to different schools. They will be starting at School Without Walls, Edison, and Wilson – some will go to MCC in the fall. But all the steppers all agreed that they will stay together as a team - thru the Community Place.
Leaving Douglass was really hard for this 21 person team, but they have become more like a family because of this. As one of the steppers told me, it’s not just a past time- it’s an obsession. I saw this obsession first hand. Once they started steppin - they wanted to go thru all of their favorite routines.
These students have learned a bigger life lesson than they were planning on. They joined the team for fun and they walked away with more than they ever planned on… including better grades and a stronger commitment to our community. And, that’s the big win.
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