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Surrounded by family, friends and school staff members, students of the Lowndes County Public Schools performed a variety show Friday to wrap up their theater summer camp experience.

The performance on July 19 was an almost one-hour long showcase of singing and dancing across genres, as well as heart-touching scenes. The variety show aimed to illuminate the array of issues and emotions children can and are experiencing. 

“We started talking, and we realized that our young people deal with a variety of issues,” said Rodney Wilkerson, director and coordinator for the theater summer camp. “They deal with emotional issues, they deal with stress, deal with bullying, deal with having to take care of their brothers and sisters. They don’t feel like they need to be handling adult responsibilities, but it’s also a part of their responsibility.” 

The performance was part of Lowndes School’s theater summer camp, which ran from July 8 to July 19. During the camp, students learned more about theater terminology and activities, as well as life lessons. 

The students worked on the variety show over the two-week camp; writing poems to perform and learning choreography and lines. 

“Over the past two weeks, we’ve seen tremendous growth in self confidence and projection, even just confidently being able to say their name,” said Payton Stovall, the assistant director for the theater summer camp. “Some of the children didn’t even know that they possessed certain talents. I think we just brought them something new, they don’t really get a chance to branch out and experience the arts.”

Student cast members performed a variety of group songs like Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” and the theme song from the musical “Ragtime.” 

Students also performed original poetry, written about their own experiences and griefs. 

“I believe the overall message is we all have a variety of emotions,” said Rodney Wilkerson, the director and coordinator for the theater summer camp. “The variety show is just a show about the ups and downs of emotions and feelings, and we’re doing that with scenes, poetry, music and dance. It’s just a mirage variety show about the emotions of our youth and what they’re going through now.”