Nashville, TN (BlackNews.com) - The National Step Show Alliance (NSSA) announces the inaugural Step U.P. awards. The purpose of the awards is to recognize those individuals who promote the positive aspects of stepping - both with students and in the community.
The Step U.P. Awards were developed by the NSSA's Coaches Advisory Roundtable, which consists of youth step team coaches. Nominations are due to the NSSA awards committee by March 30th. The award announcements will be made June 1st. The award categories are:
* Outstanding Coach/Mentor of the Year - for both High School and Middle School step team divisions. The award is intended to recognize individuals who mentor youth and teach the art of step.

* Outstanding Event of the Year - for youth, college and alumni category events. The award is designed to recognize the positive impact step show events have in communities.
* High School Academic Step Team All-Americans - for high school students on step teams who maintain at least a 3.3 grade point average.

"People involved with these students through stepping have an undeniably positive impact in the students' lives," said Tiffany Minor, a high school teacher & Roundtable member. "These awards will recognize those efforts, encourage others to become more actively involved and demonstrate to the teams' various communities how step programs motivate students to become more successful academically and socially. Stepping is an outgrowth of college life given its historical beginning, and providing an avenue for students who otherwise may never have considered the possibility of higher education." Minor, a member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority, has been the sponsor of the step team at her Nashville-area high school the past 2 years.

In addition to the awards the NSSA sponsors an annual youth step show in Nashville. The 2nd annual Music City Step Fest will be held on Saturday, March 17, 2007. The NSSA combines the step show with a "college tour weekend." High school step teams from Alabama, California, Georgia, and Kentucky will be coming to Nashville, not only to participate in the step show but tour and learn about Nashville colleges such as Fisk, Tennessee State, and Belmont universities.
"We look forward to hosting students and showing them TSU. Hopefully a few of these high school students will be freshman on our campus next fall," said Anthony Taylor, a junior at Tennessee State University. Taylor participated on step teams in middle and high school in the suburban Washington, DC area and credits the activity with helping him prepare for college. He now coaches a local Nashville co-ed middle school step team with another TSU classmate.

The NSSA is a 501c3 non-profit organization founded by members of the Nashville graduate chapter of the National Pan-Hellenic Council in 2005. The purpose of the organization is to use the growing popularity of stepping to positively impact the lives of young people. The organization sponsors the Step U.P. (Unlimited Potential) program which has the Step 2 Campus (Academic focused) and Steppin' 4 Your Heath (Exercise focused) components. The development of the Step U.P. pilot program has been funded by grants from the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee and the LP Foundation.

More information about the Step U.P. mentoring program, the Step U.P. Awards, and the Music City Step Fest are available on the NSSA's website - www.stepshow.org