ROCKINGHAM – With anticipation of Easter and spring break, Richmond Senior High School kicked off its second annual Raider Magic Fine Arts Festival. Thursday morning, Richmond Senior High students filed into the school gym for a day of varied styles of talent and music ranging from classmates to a Latin Fusion Band.
Before the music began, students listened to motivational speaker Tre Grammage from Hartsville South Carolina. Mr. Grammage spoke on the importance of choosing the best way to live your “dash,” the dash being the punctuation on one’s tombstone that comes between the date of birth and the date of death.
Then the music started with students and faculty performing. Marq Robinson kicked things off singing “Neverland”; Donovan Steele chose to perform “Greatest Love of All”; teachers Julie Bullard and Whitney Smith sang several selections; and RSHS chorus teacher Erin McNair sang “Never Enough” and “Word of God Speak” before teaming up with Orrick McDougald to sing “You’re All I Need to Get By.”
Mr. McDougald performed “Thinking Out Loud,” then paused to speak to the student audience about his life experiences and the importance of choosing to be around people who uplift you rather than associating with those who do not. Before singing his final song, Mr. McDougald asked the student body to remember victims of school violence by shining their cell phone flashlights in a darkened gym. Roughly a thousand cell phones were illuminated while listening to “Change Is Gonna Come.”
Concluding the local talent, the RSHS dance team then took the stage to perform and were followed by the RSHS drum line performing cadences. The final act of the morning was the Marcel Portilla Band who performed various Latin Fusion numbers.
After a lunch break, The Dickens, a cover band, played an assortment of classic rock and more current selections.
This is the second year of the Arts Festival, an initiative introduced by Jim Butler during his first year leading Richmond Senior as principal. When asked as to why he was so passionate about the festival, he responded: “Part of education is creating new experiences for students. New experiences make us better readers, better writers, better at conversation, and more aware of the world. So having a day to expose students to new styles of music and performances, we want students to see what else is out there. We want to show there is more than what they know and experience now. Next time they read about jazz or bluegrass, maybe they will have an experience that makes those topics real. Secondly, we want to have fun. School is hard. Hopefully we can have positive educational experiences that make school fun. We want students to come to school and leave with good memories of the time spent here at Richmond Senior.”
At the conclusion of the Festival, students were dismissed from the gym, eager to begin their much anticipated break.
