Important black figures have paved the way for our generation and ones down the line. They have opened businesses and schools for black communities. A significant development in the Black community are Historically Black College and Universities (HBCUs). They exist for Black students to get an opportunity to explore Black culture, be around people that share the same experiences and learn about different Black perspectives. Step teams are also a big part of (HBCUs) and Melvin Bond, counselor, brought it to our school. Bond brought the step team he’s been coaching for years to our school and made his own step team for U. City.

“The process was actually not too bad on our end- bringing Parkway to our school,” Bond said. “Dr. Peoples allowed them to come which made it easy on our end. Coordinating it was a little challenging because of keeping them in a location and a group of students in the building, but it wasn’t too difficult.”

Students also participated in the assembly. Aliyah Goodman, senior, was picked by Darielle Morris, math teacher, and Melvin Bond, counselor, to be the MC of the assembly to bring the energy to the students. Goodman introduced performers, danced and hyped up the crowd. 

“I just brought the energy to everyone even if they were nervous, so I would stay hyping everyone up,” Goodman said. “Keeping the energy up was really my favorite part.”

In addition to Goodman’s energy, the step team took the crowd by surprise. They call themselves “The Unstoppable U” and debuted for the first time during the assembly. Many members of the team had not performed much in front of an audience before.  

“When you’re on stage, you can’t really see anything because all the lights are in your face. All you can see is pitch black. But we practiced a lot, and we make our own moves we’re proud of.” 

But one performance nobody suspected was Bond and Rashid Troupe, science teacher, as they got on stage and shocked the crowd with their own step performance.

“Stepping with Mr. Bond was fun; it was a treat,” Troupe said. “It was my first time actually stepping in a while. The step was actually the one I learned in college, and so he probably learned it in two weeks. We practiced like two or three times and for the rest of the time he practiced on his own, so for him to go and learn that step that fast? Shout out to him.”

Since the group is still so new, Bond plans on expanding the team in the future.

“The long term goal is really what y’all saw with Parkway- to have a team that doesn’t just perform well but can add to what we have that we can be proud of, so we can become an elite team,” Bond said.

Gallery • 9 Photos

Xavier Thomas