The Christmas season means ornaments, a tree, gifts, egg nog, and many other things that may be associated with the holiday. For Edgecombe County Public Schools, Christmas means holiday performances.

About half of the 15 schools in the county participated in an performance for the holidays during the month of December.

The high school bands marched down the roads in Pinetops, Princeville and Tarboro for the town's parades; the dance teams of Pattillo A+ Elementary and Carver Elementary strutted their stuff to holiday tunes; the choruses of Phillips Middle, Pattillo A+ Elementary, Carver Elementary, SouthWest Edgecombe High School, Tarboro High, Bulluck Elementary and Martin Middle sang seasonal songs.

Most of the performances were free of charge to the public at various locations such as PTO meetings, Edgecombe Community College, the Blount Bridgers House, and Golden East Crossing Mall in Rocky Mount, but choral students at MMS had extra pressure as community members paid $10 to hear them perform.

The students held their concert on Saturday at Bracebridge Hall, the home of former Gov. Elias Carr.

The event was sponsored by the Pilot Club.

The students made some of their final preparations for the performance on Thursday, and explained the difficulty involved with a holiday concert.

"It's more difficult to practice for because most of the songs we have no clue what they are, but other concerts we do," said choral student Autumn Jones.

On the other hand, the students expressed some ease with the concert compared to performing for the student body.

"We're preparing for people we barely know, but with our friends it's hard," said choral student Gerald Williams.

"When it comes to our friends, we're worried about peer pressure," said choral student Jacquelyn Kerby.

MMS vocal director Brittney Copps said she tries to prepare her students holistically, working on their presence in front of an audience and nerves.

"It's not just vocal techniques, but we work on behavior and focus on PBS (positive behavior support)," she said.

"I believe in whole body kind of teaching with a lot of stretching, and vocalizing."

Now that school has concluded for the semester and the performance is over, Copps encourages the community to stop by hear or see the choral and dance teams at the schools whether it's a performance or rehearsal.

"I encourage people to come and support the students of Edgecombe County."