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Using puppet shows, dance and hip-hop, students at Burnt Mills Elementary School took a stand last week against bullying and spring break boredom.

As they manipulated menacing wolves and dressed-up pigs in front of their families, fourth- and fifth-grade students from the Silver Spring school acted out bullying scenes Friday at Strathmore Music Center in North Bethesda. While some of their peers relaxed for spring break, the Burnt Mills students at Strathmore learned more about conflict resolution and dealing with bullies.

In between one of the puppet scenes, the 16 students sang about solutions to bullying. In another, they described how bullying affects them: "… I want to be a superhero, but I'm too scared," they sang along with hip-hop artist Christylez Bacon.

Other scenes had a more uplifting tone.

In one of the scenes, a puppet tries to join a basketball game but is repeatedly denied until another puppet intervenes on his behalf. Once in the game, the puppets watch in amazement as the new addition drains his first shot.

"Swish!" they all yell.

"The lesson of the day is never leave anyone out because you never know how good they will be," a puppet says.

The students were there as part of Strathmore's second-annual Spring Break Workshop. The workshop allows student to explore conflict resolution techniques through puppet theater, hip-hop songwriting and hip-hop dance, according to a Strathmore news release. Strathmore works with area organizations to hold workshops, which are usually held during spring or summer breaks.

All of the Burnt Mills students volunteered for the program at Strathmore, where they met 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily. The students and a Burnt Mills teacher took a bus Monday through Friday from Burnt Mills to Strathmore to rehearse.

"They really worked so hard," said Burnt Mills art teacher Carmen Custen-Acosta, who accompanied the students to Strathmore for the week.

"When I first came here, I didn't know how to be a puppeteer – now I do," said Burnt Mills fifth-grader Autumn Ashe, who said she usually spends her spring break at her mother's hair salon.

Other students sacrificed going to the mall and playing Nintendo Wii to rehearse. Learning more about the performing arts made it worthwhile, they said.

Fourth-grader Stephanie Denedo said she learned some cool dance moves while learning to handle bullies, while fourth-grader Diamond DeLeon said the workshop allows her to step in someone else's shoes.

"We get to act like people that you don't get to be," DeLeon said.

For the workshop, Strathmore worked with Bacon, Michael Cotter and Penny Russell of the University Park-based Blue Sky Puppet Theatre and Margareta Chightai of Washington, D.C.-based City Dance Ensemble, which has a center at Strathmore.

Bacon, who performed the hip-hop skit with the students, said the workshop helps students realize talents they might not have known they had.

"It exposes them to different forms of expression," said Bacon, who plays the guitar, ukulele, spoons and West African hand drums.

"You never know you're talented for something if you don't look at it," he said.

Cotter, founder of Blue Sky Puppet Theatre, said puppetry positively impacts children.

"We're throwing a rock and there's ripples coming through," Cotter said. "They're learning by telling."