As the school year comes to a close, Gorton Junior High School is preparing for consolidation and their inevitable closing, with an end of the year celebration. This Thursday the school will host a special concert featuring students, alumni and faculty, “Stand Tall in Changing Time: A Musical Tribute to a School, Its Students and Faculty and the History They Experienced Together.” The tribute will follow the history of the school from when it opened in 1939 as a high school to present day.

Band director Michelle Devine had been developing the concert program previously, and the school decided to expand on it to make it an end of school celebration, inviting community members, alumni and current families. The program incorporates not just the band but also the chorus and special guest performers that will take the audience on a journey through the school’s history.

The performance will feature actors playing news reporters throughout the years while incorporating era-appropriate music. For example, Principal Jeff Taylor said as the students discuss the ’80s performers will play Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.”

Taylor said, “It’s a little bit of everything. It is one last time for current students and faculty to come together. It is shaping up to be a cool event.”

More than 90 students are involved in the musical tribute. The chorus will also sing the school’s alma mater from when Gorton was a high school. After the performance, guests can partake in refreshments and be able to view both a slideshow of pictures from Gorton’s past and present.

“Gorton has been a key aspect of this community since 1939 when it was built. In its final year we thought it was important to recognize that time serving the community and all the students, faculty and administration that has walked through these doors,” Taylor said. “It’s a way to show our appreciation and honor everyone from the past 70-plus years who have helped make the school successful.”

The musical tribute to Gorton, “Stand Tall in Changing Times,” will be held this Thursday beginning at 7 p.m. in the school’s auditorium, 69 Draper Ave. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the program is expected to run about an hour and a half. More than 600 people can fit in the auditorium, and already the space is at about half capacity. There will be light refreshments. The event is open to the public and interested parties should RSVP to Margaret Fitzsimmons at Margaret.fitzsimmons@warwickschools.org or 734-3350.