The pride displayed by the students at Dana Road Elementary on Tuesday morning during its Black History Month program should serve as a reminder to us about how much we can learn from our children.

The students were giddy with excitement about performing for their parents and city and county dignitaries.

Ocean Taylor, 9, a student at Dana Road, told a reporter the program was very important to the school and the community.

“Our school is already kind of shining, but this will make it just shine more,” Taylor said.

He’s right. Dana Road Elementary and all of the schools in Vicksburg are, indeed, shining.

Taylor and his fellow students were proud of their school, and proud of the program they had put together to highlight black history, as well as the history of other cultures. Students at Dana Road, who represent several nationalities, participated.

In fact, Dana Road teacher Dr. Uretka Callon said while some of the students at the school are bilingual, some of their parents do not speak English.

A nod toward inclusion, during some portions of the program, students spoke in Spanish so all parents in attendance could understand.

Dana Road students have studied civil rights leaders and groundbreakers Rosa Parks, President Barack Obama and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The school’s Leader in Me choir, made up of students chosen based on their good behavior and participation, performed several songs. During the last song, “Reach Out and Touch,” all in attendance joined hands and sang along with the students.

The students were understandably proud of what they learned and proud to share that with the community.

“I’m thinking what is going to happen is that this program is going to be very important, and what my friend said is that the whole city of Vicksburg is going to be here,” Taylor said.

Maybe not the whole city, Taylor, but enough to see you and your classmates really are shining brightly.