Kenzie Claire Burchfield was always going to attend Mississippi State University.
The daughter of current and retired MSU employees, Burchfield did not need much convincing to become a Bulldog. However, when she heard her friends at Starkville High School discuss a three-week summer theater camp “that sounded amazing” on the university’s campus, she knew she had to be there.
“They were always raving about the Summer Scholars program and how it was the most fun,” Burchfield said. “So, I begged my parents on my knees to let me come to camp, and they finally did. It was the best summer ever.”
Burchfield was in her element as part of MSU’s long-standing Summer Scholars On Stage tradition. Started in 1983 by Joe Ray Underwood who directed the camp for years, the multidisciplinary program has helped artistic middle and high school students develop story concepts, create characters, write dialogue, shape scripts and perform an original production in a condensed, intensive three weeks.
This year has more than 50 students in grades 7-12 from the Southeast and even Michigan are working to incorporate their dancing, singing, acting and technical skills into a final musical production.
“This has been going on for 45 years,” current Camp Director Stephen Cunetto said. “The staff has done a great job coming back year after year to help support our campers.”
Burchfield spent the next two summers attending as a camper, experiences she said helped solidify her path to MSU and pursue a career in vocal music. After graduating from MSU in 2024 with a degree in music education, she earned a master’s degree in vocal performance from Samford University. Now living in Birmingham, Alabama, Burchfield has returned to campus for the past three summers to serve as its music director.
“It has made a really huge impact on my life,” Burchfield said. “When I was in high school, I was very shy and didn’t have much confidence. But the camp staff really poured into me and gave me so much encouragement, and now I get to pay it forward. That’s my favorite thing to do, is to encourage these campers to chase their dreams, make mistakes and not be fearful.
“These campers are brilliant, and they just need an opportunity to put themselves out there,” Burchfield continued. “They have these ideas and are so creative, and I like to be the person who gives them validation because I know it means a lot to them, just as it does to me.”
Starkville native Suehyla El-Attar Young also has returned to her hometown this year to help with the camp. Leading the writer’s section, she always wanted to attend as a Starkville High School student but never had the chance.
“This year I was available, and I wanted to come and experience it,” El-Attar Young said. “To finally be here, it’s been iconic. There’s a lot of legacy here, so coming in can be a little intimidating, because I have a desire to be extremely respectful to this program that is precious to everybody who attends.”
El-Attar Young, Atlanta-based writer, actor and voice artist, said she was immediately impressed by the campers’ dedication to not only the program but their own artistic craft.
“These students are exceptional,” she said. “You’re working with people who want to be here. They will do anything and everything, and they’re here with other people who have that exact same drive. They are supporting, inspiring and energizing one another.”
The culmination of the camp’s hard work will be a three-act musical comedy titled “Face the Music(Fest).” The camp’s 45th production dives into a revenge plot set on a fictional college campus, featuring 10 original songs and everything from romance to zombies to albino alligators. Free and open to the public, performances are scheduled for June 26, 7 p.m. and June 27, 1 p.m. on the main stage in McComas Hall, 127 Presidents Circle.
More information for Summer Scholars, sponsored by MSU’s Office of Pre-College and Opportunity Programs in the MSU Division of Access, Opportunity and Success, can be found at www.summerscholarsonstage.msstate.edu/.
