Journey students present 'Let My People Go'

As part of the Martin Luther King Jr. celebration that will be held in Fullerton Auditorium on Tuesday, Jan. 16, starting at 7 p.m., middle school and elementary school students from Journey School of the Arts will perform. The students represent 10 different Cherokee County schools or are homeschooled.

In a scene from "Let My People Go" from God's Trombones are (front row) Kasey Jackson, Jeanna Burch, Raeny Cowles, Kennedy Batchler, Ali Henderson and Stephanie Neighbors; (back) Alex Guest, Savannah White, Hannah Welch, Colton Burch, Deanna Spurlin and Danielle Neighbors. Also appearing in the presentation are Karli Green, Emily Camp, Megan Scruggs, Aidan Hopping, Aubrey Hopping, Gillian Clough and Madeline Clough. All are students at Journey School of the Arts. In 1927, James Weldon Johnson, a Black poet, published a series of Negro sermons in verse called God's Trombones. The Journey students will dramatize one of these sermons, "Let My People Go," Tuesday evening.

Alex Guest, Hannah Welch, Colton Burch, Savannah White, Aubrey Hopping, Leigh Wheat and Raeny Cowles will play major roles. Others in the ensemble include Kasey Jackson, Jeanna Burch, Ali Henderson, Stephanie Neighbors, Deanna Spurlin, Danielle Neighbors, Emily Camp, Megan Scruggs, Aidan Hopping, Aubrey Hopping, Gillian Clough, Madeline Clough and Karli Green.

"Let My People Go" will be accompanied with special spiritual arrangements by Justin Addington, Minister of Music at Buford Street United Methodist Church.

Tedi H. Gibbons is director of Journey School of the Arts, which provides instruction in theatre and creative writing. Members of the group recently appeared in the S.C. ETV program featuring outstanding individuals and groups in Cherokee County and in "Christmas on Limestone."