"Turn up that beat."

On Wednesday, June 4, students of the Boston Evening Academy displayed their academic and musical ability during their third annual symposium as they presented projects, danced and rapped before a warm crowd of family and friends.

The spring symposium at the Boston Center for the Arts was entitled "The Art of Contributing to Community," and featured projects focused on this theme, which ranged from book essays to presentations on the problems in the Middle East.

"Tonight is a presentation of materials that the students have learned," Jerry Mazzarella, a BEA math teacher, said. "The learning at our school does not just take place in books."

In fact, the 22 seniors showed that much of their learning occurs in the communities where they live through the presentation of their video thesis.

Each group's video thesis offered the audience a brief glimpse into local neighborhoods with interviews and soundtracks chosen by the students

The communities represented included the South End, Jamaica Plains and Allston-Brighton, which BEA senior Lauren McPherson, a local resident said, "Has shaped me to be the successful person that I am today."

Scattered throughout the circular Cyclorama Building was a maze of three panel boards featuring projects that Mazzarella said many students have been working on for the past few months.

"My definition of a community is when people stick together to help each other out," said Janelle Bowers, a student at BEA since March.

Standing before her project on the novel "The Bread Givers" the tall, slender Bowers said that the main character had two communities, her family and her neighborhood.

She added, "A major message in the book is that you can be anything you want to be."

Following the exhibition of student work Yakov Gubanov, originally from the Ukraine, tickled the pale keys of a keyboard creating a soundtrack to a silent Charlie Chaplin film.

The light music warmed the minimalist room with brick walls and a matching floor, as an undercurrent of low voices filled the vast, circular space. His 30-minute performance was followed by a strong applause and a bouquet of flowers from the seniors.

Standing on the small stage, the BEA students nearing graduation looked like most other seniors. Some in jeans and a T-shirt others more formal in snug pants and crisp blouses. However, the academy on Commonwealth Avenue is not your typical high school.

"This is not a night school," Mazzarella said.

Rather, the academy holds classes from 4:30 until 8:30 p.m. and is competency based.

"Some students accomplish all the requirements in two years. It takes other students three or four years," Mazzarella said.

Regardless of how long it takes all of the students attending the symposium, whether cheering in the audience or performing on stage, seemed to enjoy one another and BEA.

Bowers, a recent student, smiled broadly and said, "I really like it here. I only began in March, but so far I really like it."

Congratulating the BEA on its excellence the Coalition of Essential Schools, which is a national organization that views students as workers and teachers as coaches, presented the academy with a plaque denoting their position as a part of the coalition.

Despite the honor, the evening focused on the students' achievements, both academic and musical. Woven between segments of the senior videos were dance performances by BEA student Anthony Young and the Dance Philippines Performing Arts and Company Inc., as well as others.

However, the highlight of the entertainment was a rap performance by students Damon Lewis, Zatara Lindsey and Reudel Christopher that had the audience feeling the thumping pulse from the moment the trio stepped on stage and Christopher said, "Turn up that beat."

Ending the evening was the presentation of awards to students for academic achievement and academic improvement. Among those honored were Sonia Pires, Suoaiman Abdul-Musawwir, Barbara Blue and Carla Semedo.