THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 19, 1994 TAG: 9408170118
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ERIC FEBER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines
CHESAPEAKE PRIDE has retreated and is ready to motivate students to live drug-free.
The group of 35 performing Chesapeake high school volunteers recently came back from an annual retreat, held Aug. 12-14 at the Anchor church camp at Knotts Island, N.C., where it bonded, made friends, honed older routines and rehearsed new songs and material.
Chesapeake Pride is a 4-year-old performing group under the direction of administrator Malia Piper, a career guidance counselor at Oscar Smith High School, and artistic director William R. ``Billy'' Williams, a 1983 Oscar Smith graduate, former member of the Smith Singers show choir and a performer who has worked with the Tidewater Dinner Theater.
The ensemble is made up of Chesapeake high school students in grades 9-12. Members join the troupe through annual auditions, usually held near the end of the school year. Each selected performer has to take the Chesapeake Pride Drug-Free Pledge and promise to obey strict rules formulated by the entire Pride team.
It performs at Chesapeake public schools, PTA groups, church groups, youth conferences, training workshops, civic organizations and clubs. It's a member of the national PRIDE (Parent Resource Institute for Drug Education) network, based in Atlanta. Expenses are paid through annual fund-raising, grants from the Youth Alcohol Drug Abuse Prevention Project and from area businesses, individuals, teachers, clubs and organizations.
Piper said this year's group added 20 new members to the 15 veterans who returned. The students hail from Oscar Smith, Great Bridge and Indian River high schools and from Greenbrier Christian Academy.
Although the ensemble purchases its songs and routines from the national Pride headquarters, Piper said this year's group is so talented it could create its own performing material.
``The quality of kids we have now is incredible,'' she said. ``I think it's our most talented group so far. We now have many versatile performers, over half can sing and dance and act. We're talented enough to create our own choreography, and we're encouraging them to come up with their own skits.''
The group's new assistant director is Jeff Williams, and its new sound man is John Batts.
And Chesapeake Pride now has another group behind it: parents.
``We now have a Chesapeake Pride parents booster club,'' Piper said. ``Just like a choral parents or band booster club. They'll be there to support, assist and enhance our organization.''
Piper said three parents - Donna Swingley, Gladys Wright and Kay Fombell - are the new organization's core who helped at the recent retreat.
Along with team building relays and name games, the group also learned three new routines and three new dance numbers at the retreat. In addition, members chose to ``say no'' to racism and teen sex in routines including ``We Can Make a Difference.''
The new material was given a test when the group performed its 1994-95 program, ``Building Bridges,'' during the retreat's Parents' Night show.
``We performed `We've Got a Lot of Work to Do,' which has a country-and-western flavor, complete with line dancing,'' Piper said. ``And we ended it with a team-unity number, the song from `Grease' called `We Go Together.' ''
Piper said the group's new show is about 45 minutes long, features new songs and dance routines and will be performed at the Aug. 27 Chesapeake Mayor's Drug Conference at Indian River High School and at the upcoming Chesapeake Fall Fest.
But Piper said this year's team has the talent and material to perform a lengthy show if the need arises.
``They could do a three-hour show,'' she said. ``They can meet any performing need.'' by CNB