Pace High's SpARTan Boot Camp draws over 100 middle school students

By Rene David Basulto - Monsignor Edward Pace HS

MIAMI | On Oct. 4, over 100 middle school students from across South Florida attended Msgr. Pace High School’s third annual SpARTan Boot Camp. The one-day camp features workshops in art, drama, dance, and music taught by the lead teachers of Pace’s Signature Academy of Visual and Performing Arts.  

Workshops were split into morning and afternoon sessions with a talent showcase for parents at 2:30 p.m. While some campers spent the whole day in just one type of workshop, many others diversified their day with a variety of workshops, such as taking drawing in the morning and musical theater in the afternoon. The ability to mix and match also allowed campers to try new things regardless of what experience they had in the subject.

The boot camp was an opportunity for students from grades five through eight to experience the classes, activities, and programs offered by Pace and its Signature Academies. Teachers ran workshops much like they run their classes, so campers also got a bit of the high school experience.

Christina Pla-Guzman, head of the Academy of Visual and Performing Arts’ theater program,  helmed the theater and musical theater workshops inside Pace’s Spartan Center. During the theater workshop, campers worked on improvisation and pantomime skills. Groups mimed a tug-of-war battle, crazed shoppers going after a Christmas present in a store, and a group of elderly people competing in a pie-eating contest. For musical theater, campers worked on choreography and practiced performing a selection of “The Nicest Kids in Town” from the musical "Hairspray."

Over in the art room, Marcel Navarro, head of the art program, instructed campers in drawing and sculpture and gave them a chance to let their creative side out and create something they could take home. Students in the drawing workshop learned about textures, colors, and creating contours of still-life objects, while sculpture workshop students created abstract works of art using cardboard.

Lead teacher Ross Goldman guided students in the guitar and band workshops to practice their basic skills, learn music theory, and work together to perform songs. Guitar campers worked on playing chords or single notes depending on their experience, while band campers brought their own instrument and learned about scales, basic music theory, harmony, and intonation. Campers also got to ask Goldman and Pace seniors questions about what a future in high school and music would be like. 

Karina Saud, head teacher in the dance program, and her sister, Danceline director Roxy Saud, led the jazz dance and hip hop dance workshops. Within Pace’s Dance Studio, campers sweated and followed along to the dance routines they would be performing in the showcase later in the day. In addition to the physical demands of the workshops, campers had to improve their choreography to be in sync for their group performances in the talent showcase. 

All of the teachers were aided by current Pace students throughout the day. Students from the Thespian Honor Society led groups of campers as they practiced for their improvisation and musical theater performances. In the hip hop dance workshop, Pace Starlette dancers led campers by modeling the routines and asking them to follow along. In the art and music workshops, Pace students were on hand to reinforce what campers should be doing and also give suggestions.

After the workshops, family and friends entered the Spartan Center for the talent showcase, where they got to see artwork from the drawing workshops displayed on the walls as well as the final performances from the dance and drama workshops. The showcase was the first use of the refurbished Spartan Center stage, with new curtains funded by gifts from Pace’s classes of 2013 and 2014.

Alyssa Veloso, a fifth grader from Mother of Our Redeemer School in Miami who attended the drawing and musical theater workshops, said that she not only learned new techniques, but also more about Pace. “I thought it was really fun,” said Alyssa. “(The camp) teaches you a lot of things about the arts for when you’re older.”

The camp and similar ones before it have been very successful, according to Pla-Guzman. She said some students have attended multiple camps and many of her current first-year academy students participated in past camps.

“A lot of really talented people are coming out of the program,” she said.

Pace senior Bradley Perez, who was helping with the drama workshops, echoed this and saw many campers full of promise. “It makes you look forward to the future,” Bradley said.