One Renton mother is offering a drill team as a summer alternative and a way to build safe community for young women.

Kids should have something to focus on during the summer, said Shalon Jasper, director of the Super Steppers Marching Team. “If you’re just hanging out, you find trouble or trouble finds you.”

The Supers, and counterparts the Little Steppers, are one of many groups planning to march in the Renton River Days parade July 24.

Unlike typical drill teams, Jasper holds the girls responsible for more than learning their routines, she said. “They know it’s more than just a drill team.”

They have to maintain their grades, perform 40 hours of community service and sign a contract agreeing to stay out of trouble.

During a practice she shouts stiff orders to lineup, smile and pick up the pace. She’s as serious as a drill sergeant.

“We learn to keep ourselves in check,” said Kendra Carter, 16.

After practice, Jasper transforms into Auntie Shalon or Mamalon. The girls see her as a mother figure, she said.

“It’s a community. It’s a family, and, yes, it’s a team as well,” said co-director Shaundra Jackson.

If the girls don’t get along as a family, they learn to work through it. Two ladies recently had to sell an ad together because they weren’t getting along, Jackson said.

If the girls break the rules, even during the off season, they face discipline, Jasper said. “I just don’t want them to get them caught up in bad situations.”

The summer before the team started, five of Quiarra Gipson’s friends had died, Gipson said.

A daughter of Jasper, Quiarra is now the team captain.

“It’s like this team keeps us on track,” said Cecelia Jackson, 15.

A focus on excellence encourages the girls to go to college, Gipson said.

“I learned to be confident in myself,” said Little Stepper co-captain Natalia Reaves, 9.

This will be the Stepper’s second season of performances. There are about 14 Supers, ages 12-19, and 20 Littles from ages 5-11.

Captain Gipson creates most of the drills and refines them with her teammates, she said.

The creative process isn’t a science. Gipson puts on music and her mother, Jasper, films her dancing.

Their performances are set to the rhythm of drummer boys and incorporate modern dance with drill, cheer and marching.

Summer festivals and parades create a stage for their performances, often with thousands of spectators. On a busy weekend, they’ll perform twice a day.

Their red and blue uniforms glitter as they stomp, clap and groove in sync.

Gipson introduces her girls by shouting “Super Steppers, Super Steppers” into the parade, the girls’ shout their salute, “Super Steppers, A’ight.”

A teen mother, Jasper grew up involved with a Seattle drill team. As a child, Gipson often came along to practices. Eventually she joined the team herself.

About three years ago, the team took a break, when Jasper decided to start one of her own.

It took Jasper a year to organize the team, drawing several girls from local churches. The group is “Christ centered” and regularly prays together.

The Renton School District provided the group a free place to practice once a week, Campbell Hill Elementary.

This year they received 501(c)3 status, meaning all donations to the group are tax-deductible.

Jasper also invites boys to join the team as drummers and flaggers. There are about seven in all.

“I want the young men in the community to have a safer alternative,” Jasper said, adding that she’s looking for a mentor for the boys.

Many of the girls come to the group with little self-esteem or community pride, Jasper said. “I try to instill in them that they need to be proud of themselves first and to honor God.”

Super is also an acronym, standing for Showing Urban Pride Everywhere Regularly.

“(Jasper) wanted to offer more to the young people,” Jackson said. “We want them to be good impacts on society.”