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PARKERSBURG — A presentation of African American spirituals will be presented to the gifted students at Belpre Elementary School on Thursday at the Zion Baptist Church in Parkersburg.

“We’ll be sharing the history and sharing the music that has been very much instrumental and inspirational in African American culture,” said Lisa Grays, the minister of the church at Eighth and Clay streets.

The presentation for the students was organized by Grays, who also is a teacher at Belpre High School, and Meridith Greene, the gifted coordinator for Belpre City Schools. The event begins at 9:30 a.m. and will last about one hour.

Students in the gifted program focus on a different content area each month, Greene said. This month it’s African American music and musicians in light of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which was Monday, and Black History Month in February, she said.

Students will learn about the Underground Railroad and the importance of the Ohio River, Greene said. Another teacher, Mary Miller, will lead students on the Underground Railroad, a secret network that helped slaves in the South reach freedom in the North.

“Our students will also stop at different sites on the Underground Railroad here,” Greene said.

Participating gifted students will be in the second, third, fourth and fifth grades.

Among the songs to be sung by a choir from the church are “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,” “We Shall Overcome,” “Oh Freedom,” “Gimme’ that Old-Time Religion,” “When the Saints Go Marching In,” “Hush, Somebody’s Callin’ My Name” and “This Little Light of Mine.”

The spirituals chosen may also have been sung during the journey on the Underground Railroad, Greene said.

“Definitely educational,” Grays said.

“We are coming together and sharing our history in a positive way with the community,” she said. “This is the church and the community coming together to celebrate and to learn.”

The purpose of the presentation and other programs also is to show children they, too, are multifaceted and more than a student, Greene, adding she also is a musician and Grays also is a pastor, said.