Brandywine High School student Mackenzie Gonzalez Jones led a group of students through a number of choreography moves Tuesday afternoon.

Standing in a straight line, students repeated the steps diligently.

The practice was part of the week-long Performing Arts Workshop Selects, where students spend their summer hours creating their very own show, which will feature acting, dancing and signing.

The PAW Selects 2017 show is free to attend and will debut at 7 p.m. Thursday at Brandywine Elementary, 2428 S. 13th St.

Three more PAW workshops will take place through mid-July. Next week, students will be put on “Beauty and the Beast” at 7 p.m. June 30 and July 1.

Brandywine alumni August Garritano and Lena Miles co-founded the nonprofit organization in 2012. Today, Garritano is the performing arts director at Brandywine Elementary and Miles is a middle school choir director at Farmington Public Schools, in the metro Detroit area.

For seasoned PAW performers, Garritano and Miles created PAW Selects, in which students have the chance to lead the workshops. There are 16 students in grades five through 12 enrolled. The students are tasked with the challenge to create their very own show.

“We really wanted to challenge them and we felt like they were ready,” Miles said. “So we have this awesome group, who have a variety of skills and experiences that they can all bring together.”

Instead of being told what to do, students learn how to think like a director, giving them the chance to apply the skills they have learned through PAW in the past.

For their first ever PAW Selects performance, students wanted to address an important topic: overcoming difficult obstacles. Their play follows the lives of three characters who, despite having struggles in their lives, find comfort in the people around them.

Gonzalez said students wanted to portray different people going through a tough time and show how they overcome the obstacles in their life.  Throughout the play, students show that having someone close who cares is part of the healing process.

“At the end it shows that people are there for each other and that they are not alone,” Gonzalez said.

For the production, Gonzalez will be choreographing a dance to the song “You will be Found,” from the musical “Dear Evan Hansen.”

When she began tackling the choreography, Gonzalez said she wanted to find a way to communicate the story through dance.

“I just thought about what I wanted to make the audience feel,” Gonzalez said.

Before joining PAW Selects, Gonzalez had been part of the school’s performance of “Shrek the Musical.” When the production wrapped up, Gonzalez asked Garritano what else she could join. Additionally, Gonzalez is part of the high school’s color guard.

“I love choreographing, dancing and telling a story through music,” Gonzalez said.

About a year and half ago, the group was able to achieve a nonprofit status. Looking back on six years of leading PAW, Miles and Garritano have watched not only the number of students grow, but also the students’ skills.