On Wednesday, May 9, GCSA, KIPP Metro Atlanta, BOOK and GeorgiaCan hosted a special National Charter Schools Week celebration featuring a special screening of the movie “STEP” and a step performance by KIPP Atlanta Collegiate students. The documentary film screening and performance were held at KIPP Atlanta Collegiate inside the school’s auditorium.
Gamma Kappa Phi members perform
The event kicked off with Gamma Kappa Phi, a step team made up of students from KIPP Atlanta Collegiate and their coach Ramoris Parham. KIPP Atlanta Collegiate students, who are members of Gamma Kappa Phi, shared the importance of providing extracurricular activities like stepping and their upcoming plans for college attendance.
GCSA President and CEO Tony Roberts thanked the students for sharing their performance and said they represent the wonderful work that schools like KIPP Atlanta Collegiate are doing to ensure students not only receive their high school diploma but graduate from college. Roberts told attendees there are currently more than 86,000 students enrolled in a Georgia charter school. He says there is high demand for this vital school choice option, particularly in Metro Atlanta.
GCSA, KIPP Metro Atlanta & BOOK
Roberts’ speech was followed by a screening of “STEP,” a documentary film that focuses on the story of a girls’ high-school step team from Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women in Baltimore, Maryland. The all-female charter school depicted in the film works to reshape the futures of its students by making it an objective for every member of their senior class to gain acceptance to and graduate from college. The school’s teachers, coaches, counselors and teammates all have a positive impact on the lives of step team members, and the young women on the step team learn to thrive as they work to overcome adversities.
This pivotal story highlights the important role that teachers, coaches, administrators, counselors and parents play in ensuring that students succeed in and out of the classroom. The parents, community members and students who attended were truly inspired by the movie and the KIPP students who shared their talent and personal stories.
