South Shore Drill Team celebrates 45-year anniversary in June with performance at Gary Comer Youth Center
The South Shore Drill Team Performing Arts Ensemble has dazzled audiences for 45 years. In June, current and former members, including CBS News Chicago's own Darius Johnson, will honor the legacy of the group with a special performance.
Inside the gym, on the stage, every clap and count is calibrated. Far beyond a routine, it's a ritual.
The South Shore Drill Team was founded by Arthur Robertson, a Chicago Public Schools teacher who wanted to give young people a place to belong. It started in 1980 with just four members. Today, it has served thousands of young people.
In 2025, they are marking that legacy with a full-circle moment as members past and present return to perform together.
"Forty-five years, that's not something easy to do," said alum William Lamb.
For many, the drill team is home, and once you're in, you never really leave.
"It feels very good to see old faces that used to be on the drill team," said Morgan Keating, pee-wee captain.
"Once you're here, you're family," Lamb said.
Lamb's journey began a decade ago; now he's returned for the spring show, because the 45th anniversary hits different.
"It's going to be a full-circle moment for me, because my first spring show was the 35th anniversary," he said.
For current members and alumni, it's not just about the moves, it's about the message. Performing on stage is a bigger feeling than anyone can imagine.
The energy is so infectious, it even resonates among the youngest members of the team; the pee-wees.
"One thing I love about being on the drill team is doing parades all the time, and also performing in shows," Keating said.
Keating has performed on the team for the last two and a half years. Her love for the team started at an early age, thanks to her family.
"My uncle is on drill team," she said. "I used to always love watching him teach and perform also."
That same uncle is still teaching today, and Keating is now a captain. With that title comes responsibility.
"You always have to lead by example, even though others aren't doing it," Keating said.
And it takes practice to become perfect.
"I'd be lying to you if I said I got everything right away," said Lamb.
But with time, it all becomes second nature, and the reward is even bigger than the stage.
"The drill team is more than just you have teammates. You have your brothers and sisters," Lamb said. "The bonds that you build with these people are bonds that will last a lifetime."
Over the last four decades, the team has taken those bonds across the world, from the Bud Billiken Parade to presidential inaugurations and even to Morocco. And yet the heart of it all has always been home in Chicago.
"If you spent plenty of months working on something, of course you want to display that to the people," Lamb said.
And that's what they'll do this summer as they celebrate 45 years of family, formation, and show-stopping pride.
"I'm really looking forward to the show, and showing off my moves and how good I am," Keating said.
"It was always success, it was always excellence. That showed that we were good at what we were doing. The mission of the drill team still lives on today. So that's the excitement for me," said Lamb.
The South Shore Drill Team's spring show will celebrate 45 years of performance on June 14 at 6 p.m. at the Gary Comer Youth Center in Greater Grand Crossing.
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