The Parkway Step Team consists of students from all four high schools. South has 3 girls who participate in stepping on the team: sophomore Kiah Morgner, senior Triniti Valiant, and freshman Zhion Davis. 

There is also a middle school Parkway Step Team that is coached by Melvin Bond, Courtney Bond, Lonette Middleton and Taylor Willis. About 90% of the steppers join the Step Team during middle school and continue to step throughout high school.  

“I have been on the step team for 5 years now since the 6th grade, ” said Morgner. 

The high school Step Team is coached by many coaches including BJ James, Bianca James, Adrienne Lathan, and Gina Covington-James. All of their coaching styles consist of different contributions they bring to the team to make a strong, united, district team. Coaches strive for all steppers and coaches to represent the core values of commitment, accountability, responsibility, integrity, and perseverance. 

“The best part about coaching this team is having the opportunity to collaborate with students from all middle and high schools, bringing them together to form a unity despite the differences of school cultures and rivalries. This unity makes us Parkway Proud. We take pride in representing our school district wherever we go,” said Parkway Step Team director Gina Covington-James. 

Covington-James said maintaining good grades is also an important part of being part of the Parkway Step Team. Because of this, during some practices they make time to have a study hall session where steppers make sure to turn in assignments. This plays into the motto of the Step Team: “To better education with a step.”

 The Step Team practices like every other sports team at South High–in the beginning they warm up and stretch but what their practices consist of is learning steps, strolls, chants, and scripts when required for competition routines.   

“We practice on every Saturday and sometimes Sundays, but we used to practice way more,” said Valiant.

The Step Team performs in many events during the school year. These events include pep rallies, and football and basketball games. At South, the team performed at its trivia night on Nov. 12. Besides in St. Louis, the team also travels to compete. On Dec. 17 the team performed at a competition in Louisville, Ky. They also will travel to Lakeland, Florida on Feb. 4 and Dallas, Tx on April 14 for competitions.

“My favorite part about being on the team is meeting new people and performing,” said Davis 

If you are interested in participating on the step team, tryouts will take place in 2023 on March 28-30, April 1-2 and make sure to look for information on how to register.