By DREW GRANTHUM/Staff Writer

For the second straight year, the students of Chilton County High School will take to the stage to help their school.

The students will present the second annual “Christmas Spectacular,” held Dec. 12-13 at the CCHS auditorium.

While last year’s show was a success, event organizer Blake Hudson, a senior at CCHS, said plans were in place to improve the show this year, with around 100 students involved again this year.

While it will take place on the stage, Hudson said he hesitated to call it a play or a musical.

“We really call it a production,” he said. “We’ll do a musical number, then transition into the next number. There’s not necessarily a plot.”

Instead, Hudson said the show was split into two acts; in the first, those in attendance can expect to hear classic Christmas tunes such as “Sleigh Ride,” and “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” among others.

In addition, the program will feature dancing reindeer as well as Santa Claus.

For the second act, the music will be devoted to more contemporary pieces, such as the most recent Kelly Clarkson album and several numbers from the Disney movie “Frozen,” before capping the show off with a special presentation.

“The end of the show (has) a nativity scene with about 40 people, all set to ‘Mary, Did You Know?,’” Hudson said.

While one of the goals of the show is to entertain the community, Hudson said the show served another purpose — namely, helping improve CCHS by raising funds for future projects for the school.

“Last year we started it as a fundraising effort,” he said. “We only spent $200 on the entire show, and made $5,000. This year we spent $1,000 and made it a little bigger. Ultimately, it’s a fundraising effort, but in the end it’s a lot of fun.”

The money raised from last year’s show went to a fund designated for resurfacing the school’s parking lot, and while it hasn’t been decided what the money raised from this year’s show will go toward this year, Hudson said he hoped to make a positive impact on the school and community with the performance.

“We definitely had a lot of success,” he said. “It’s my senior year, and I know I want to do this for a career, (so I) wanted to do it a little bigger. It’s a Christmas show, so it’s really easy to market.”

The cost of the show is $8 for both general and reserved seating in the center of the auditorium, though Hudson said there were only about 10 reserved seats left for the two nights. Those in attendance will also be able to take their pictures with characters from the show afterward.

For more information, call the school at 280-2710.