Every year in January, Frederick County Public Schools holds a celebration honoring Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King. It’s important not only for the youth to understand why they have the third Monday of January off but also to celebrate King and his dream to “live in a nation where [his children] will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character”. Although there are still some difficulties in achieving this goal,  Frederick County does a pretty good job of reminding the community every year why his messages are so important.

The 35th annual celebration was held Tuesday, January 15th at Governor Thomas Johnson High School where students from  elementary through high school were given the MLK award for demonstrating leadership qualities such as responsibility, caring, fairness, trustworthiness, citizenship and respect. “Everybody can be great, because everybody can serve” was the theme for the celebration this year.

The recipient of the 2025 award, Lexi Bureau, a senior  at Walkersville High School, said she was very honored to receive the award: “When I found out I received the reward I didn’t really know how to react because I hadn’t heard about it before and I was kind of like ‘Uh what does that mean?’ But to be picked for that out of all the students in our school is just really amazing honestly. I had never heard of it but I feel like it’s a big deal, and I felt really honored to get that. “Lexi earned the award because of all the work she does to help the community while also pursuing her higher education goals. She is the current president of the Key Club, a student-led organization that focuses on community service, leadership development, and character building, and has been in Key Club all four years of high school. She also volunteers at her church and helps with vacation bible school in the summer.  She’s done girls flag football, unified bocce, and her first two years of high school she played softball for the Walkersville team. She is committed to going to Penn State Harrisburg University to study biology because she wants to be a vet one day. She is an intern and a vet assistant at Heritage Animal Hospital and a waitress at Thurmont Kountry Kitchen. She is extremely busy, but still finds time to help others.

The awards ceremony was accompanied by a multitude of wonderful performances; however, the co-performance of Walkersville High School and Urbana High School’s step teams stood out. Stepping is a form of percussive dance in which the participants’ entire body is used as an instrument to produce complex rhythms and sounds through a mixture of footsteps, spoken works and hand claps. The Urbana team was the first in Frederick County. Team captains Domenica Dixon, Victoryn Bien-Aime, Kyra Cephas, and Mya Fultz worked hard to build their program and mold their team into a tight-knit group. They have performed at the MLK celebration for the past three years, and were very excited to work with the new Walkersville team.

Domenica joined the UHS step team in 2022 during her sophomore year as well. She’s always worked hard and was a big help even before she became a captain, offering ideas and help to the previous captains before her. “My favorite thing about step is the bond that it creates within the group. I’ve made so many friends and sisters in the 3 years I’ve been here. I’m thankful for that.” Domenica said that she joined step for a new experience just to try something new. It’s clear that her idea to try something new paid off as she is clearly a passionate captain and enjoys what she does in every way.

Mya has been on her step team for two years now being in tenth grade and becoming a co-captain in the beginning of the step season of last year. Mya says her two favorite things about being a captain are “being able to teach people what I love. I love seeing everyone’s growth in step as well as a person.” The last quote Mya gave me, and one everyone should live by and keep in their mind is that “Everything you want is possible. Work hard and stay determined.” The other two captains, Kyra and Victoryn, have pretty much the same views about step with really appreciating the fact that they get to really bring a sense of strong black community to Urbana and getting to represent black culture with every opportunity they get.

Walkersville’s step team, although having only officially been a team for one year is just as strong, with the potential for more growth in the future. The team is led by  Alanah Fore, Trish Kitcher, Suri Kang, and Jamelia Tubman. They do an amazing job at making the students on the team feel comfortable and like they have a place to fit in.

Walkersville’s step team had its genesis in a Black Student Union (BSU) step performance during the Multicultural Festival in 2023. After their success at that first performance, Alanah, Trish, and Esther Odu, decided they really wanted to have their own team, and from there it was history. As one of the founders of the team, Alanah has been a team captain since her freshman year. She says her favorite things about being a captain is being able to see all of the team’s progress in real time, getting to perform at the girls’ basketball games, and having fun.

Trish, who was in her sophomore year when the BSU performed at the Multicultural Festival,  worked over the summer to make a WHS step team a reality. She has been a captain since that time.  She says, “My favorite thing about being a captain is being with the students and making connections with them.” She also says that her favorite thing about step is the steppers in general. “I joined step because I felt like Walkersville needed a change and more culture.”

Suri also performed at multicultural night and put her energy into making it a separate club, with her becoming captain in her junior year. She says that her favorite thing about being a captain is helping her other teammates learn new dances and steps. Suri also says that her favorite thing about step in general is the cultural representation that it brings to Walkersville County: ” I originally joined step to be able to perform at my school’s multicultural night, but it didn’t take long for me to realize the large significance in representation it brings to my school and communities. That is also the reason why I have continued to participate in step.”

Jamelia joined the step team this year. Her teammates agree that she’s a hard worker and a great captain. Her favorite thing about being a captain is being in a leadership role because she likes the responsibility. When asked why she joined the step team, she said, “The rhythmic and dance mashup of it; I like being in the performing arts and Greek society culture soooo much.  I like the performing arts aspect of it, and I also wanted to make more connections and friends, get closer to black culture and such”.

The collaboration between the two teams was possible because of the hard work of Dr. Camille Bell, who is the advisor for both the Walkersville and Urbana step teams. Her energy and enthusiasm have caused the program to grow, and without her the program would not be where it is today. Between training, event planning, and publicity, she is both teams biggest supporter. It’s very clear  that the main  reason for stepping is to bring more light to the culture and make sure that area is recognized. Both teams loved performing at MLK and are very excited for all the new events they’ll be performing in the future. The Walkersville team is especially excited since they are the newer team, and this is the first time they are really getting out there. As both teams grow and thrive, their biggest wish is for step to spread all over the county and for more schools to have step teams.