Atlanta elementary school students performed at the 68th Annual Macy's Great Tree Lighting ceremony last month.

The Sarah Smith Elementary School fourth and fifth grade chorus performed at the event for the third year in a row. Their teacher, Neil Thompson, selected the song Let There Be Peace on Earth “to shine a positive message this holiday season.”

Thousands of people showed up to the Lenox Square event Thanksgiving week to help ring in the holiday season.

Channel 2’s Jovita Moore and Craig Lucie hosted the evening that included performances by contemporary Christian music group MercyMe, and Jordin Sparks and Danny Gokey, both of “American Idol.”

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Wade Roberts (center), a Decatur-area resident with children in three of the city's schools, speaks as Decatur parents met with Education Planners, a consulting firm, on Nov. 13, at Beacon Hill Middle School in Decatur to discuss the possibility of one of the district's five K-2 schools closing. (Daniel Varnado for the AJC)

Credit: Daniel Varnado/For the Atlanta Journal-Constitution

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Inventor Lonnie Johnson stands with his Super Soaker water guns at JTEC Energy on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025, in Atlanta. Johnson, a former NASA engineer, is currently working on a new energy technology through his company’s JTEC device that turns thermal heat into usable energy. (Natrice Miller/AJC)