Since the second week of December, 15 students at Anderson Middle School and one student who attends Sugarland Elementary have been practicing and rehearsing on the big stage.

All of the practice and hard work will be over Friday night when the students perform “Rooting Us to Our Past, An Oral History Project” at the Sliman Theater. The performance is free to the public. The show begins at 7 p.m.

“ ‘Rooting Us to Our Past, An Oral History Project’ is about famous African-Americans who influenced American history, and in the show students will portray and re-enact scenes,” said Charlee Halphen, director of project. “Students will play Ida B. Wells, Rosa Parks, Thurgood Marshall and Bear Rustin, just to name a few. All of the students have written papers on who they will be portraying in class, so they are a little familiar with that person.”

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Halphen said the students have been rehearsing Monday through Wednesday for about an hour for about two months. On Thursdays and Fridays, the students have been rehearsing from 2:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.

“The students have put an extraordinary amount of time and effort into this play, and it has shown. On Friday, this will be a great opportunity for anyone to come out and see an awesome event free of charge,” Halphen said.

Eighth-grade students Hope Ratliff and Sam Breaux both said they have learned a lot during the past several months while preparing for the play.

“In the play I portray Ida B. Wells, and from rehearsing I have learned women have fought a lot for their rights,” Ratliff said. “By playing this part, I also learned if you want something in life you have to go get it and not wait for it. Practicing has been a challenge, but I got through it and now I am ready for the show.”

Breaux said this is something he never will forget.

“In the play, I am W.E.B. Dubois and I learned he went to Harvard University and was the first black ever to get a Ph.D. I also learned a lot about the other characters in the play. Everything has been really educational to me,” Breaux said.

Cast members in the production include seventh graders Bethannie Langlinais, Erica Ledet, Brielle Francis, Brashawn Francis and Ashanta Delcambre. Eighth graders are Carolyn Dupree, Lacey Willamson, Devin Gloud, Tressa Brooks, Sam Breaux, Chantel Peters, Rocky Sonemangkhara, Kwame Peter, Hope Ratliff and Christopher Stokes. Sean Moore is a second-grade student at Sugarland Elementary.