Local newspaper The Henderson Gleaner reports tribute to Abraham Lincoln:
South Middle students honor Lincoln
By VICTORIA GRABNER
Gleaner staff
They could have made history like words on the page of a textbook: Still, stationary, unmoving.
Instead, the music thumped from beat to beat and the lights darkened so that the only thing that remained unchanged was the view of the 16th president of the United States.
South Middle School's version of Abraham Lincoln took the form of a tallish student who was dressed in a black suit and hat.
Walking out onto the stage, he then sat down on a wide, white chair Thursday before the school broke out in the song "Happy Birthday." Considering Lincoln would have been 200 years old, the celebration was appropriate.
South Middle was recently named a Lincoln Legacy School by the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, and much of the country took time Thursday to honor the man who came from humble beginnings to steer the country through the challenges of the Civil War.
His most famous act, the Emancipation Proclamation, was itself significant enough that some South Middle students gladly took time to act the part of famous African-Americans who achieved their dreams in part because of Lincoln's beliefs.
One after another, students traversed the stage -- one dressed as musician Jimi Hendrix, another as writer Maya Angelou, another as Civil Rights activist Rosa Parks, and yet another as actor Will Smith.
Younger versions of baseball player Jackie Robinson, inventor George Washington Carver, Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and actress Debbie Allen also walked across the stage.
One man, Sir John Newton, stood out. Described as a former slave owner, he realized slavery was inhumane and wrote "Amazing Grace," which two former South Middle students sang.
"I thought it was awesome," said Kainen Toney, 12. "I didn't know so much about Lincoln, and now I know so much more. I didn't even really know he was from Kentucky."
Seventh-grader Angelina Francisco added that she was glad to see historical moments that were explained in a video that was presented after the students' performance.
"I thought it was cool how (the students) contributed to the program," she said.
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Shi Pope, right, playing Martin Luther King, Jr., receives his hat from Abe Lincoln, left, played by Hunter Comer, after giving Lincoln a birthday gift during the celebration of Lincoln's 200th birthday and Black History Month at South Middle School Thursday afternoon, February 12, 2009. (Gleaner photo by Darrin Phegley)
