Talent Show Held to Show Off Private and Home-Schooled Children’s Abilities

A talent show in Williamsburg helped to shine a light on some home-schooled and private school students and include them in things that are more often reserved for a public school setting.

According to Williamsburg Yorktown Daily, Amanda and Travis Paull wanted to give children in private and home-schooled environments the opportunity to get out and show the community their talents.

“They need something like this to develop public speaking and performing skills,” Amanda said. “Because they don’t get a chance to do that at home or in a small classroom.”

For many children involved, like Andriana Dumphy, the event was the first time they would ever be speaking in front of a large audience. Dumphy performed a song she wrote entitled “My Song,” which is all about not conforming to the conventional beauty images we all see on a daily basis. She wrote the song to encourage others to believe in themselves.

In the past, Williamsburg hosted talent shows that were strictly for homeschooled students. But there was never anything available for private schooled students to get involved in. As of September 2017, 10% of all U.S. students were enrolled in private schools. Because private school enrollment is so high, it was so important to the Paulls to give them this opportunity, too. Most of the students involved in the Paull’s show worked on their talents for many years.

The show featured musical performances, hip-hop routines, and even Irish dancing. And as talent shows typically are, the event was a competition between students. The students could choose between two categories: performing arts and visual arts. And then the groups were broken down even further by age group.

The talent show organizers offered prizes for the first place winner in each age group, as well as the second place winner in each age group. A grand prize of $50.00 was awarded for first place, while $25.00 was awarded for second place.