The curtain will rise on Greenville High School’s Black History Month program a little later than anticipated. But contributions from GHS students and members of the surrounding community ensure that it will be well worth the wait.

Students will take the stage at Greenville High School’s auditorium this Sunday at 3 p.m. to not only reflect on past contributions of African Americans in our society, but also to point the way forward.

GHS English teacher and program chair Stephanie Grayson said that the reason for the holdup this year is twofold.

“We wanted to get the community involved,” Grayson said. “In the past, parents haven’t been able to attend because it has always been during the school day.   So we wanted to involve more parents in the community. 

“And because of all the testing going on, and the number of students we have involved in extracurricular activities that took them off campus, we just couldn’t get it in during the school day.”

This year’s solution solved both problems, although at the expense of expediency.

“So it kind of played in our favor so that we could move it to a Sunday so that the community could attend and be involved,” Grayson added.

Programs from years past have varied from fashion shows to monologues, poetry, parades, drama skits and everything in between.

The chief difference between this year’s event and previous ones is that no longer will students be putting on the show alone.

“We extended invitations to several churches and things like that,” Grayson said. “Some of them were able to commit and some of them weren’t, but overall we have about four different youth groups who are coming in to help us.  And then we have one adult drama ministry coming in to put on a performance for us.”

Butler Chapel’s choir, praise dance teams from New Beginnings Ministry, Bethlehem Baptist Church, and Pilgrim Rest’s adult drama ministry are among the honored guests, just to name a few.

“We have a returning alumnus coming back in to recite a monologue for us, and we have a current student who’s going to do that as well—Nicholas Payne, who won our Poetry Out Loud contest this year,” Grayson added.

Holding a major event on a Sunday presented its own share of challenges, however.

“Church was a major concern,” Grayson said. “But like I said, we wanted to broaden our horizons and get the community involved.”

But for the past four years, the challenges presented in putting on the annual program has proven a treat unto itself for Grayson.

“It’s exciting.  Of course, each year brings on new challenges and you have to search out your new students and see the talent that you have,” Grayson said. “And Greenville High School is full of talent. We have some very talented students.  We just have to encourage them to display those talents.”

The show will kick off at the Greenville High School auditorium tomorrow at 3 p.m. Rheta McClain, Butler County Schools administrative assistant for learning supports, will serve as mistress of ceremony.