The stands at the Jefferson County Civic Center will be filled with orange and blue on Friday morning when the Charles Henderson High School Trojans take the court for their semi-final showdown with defending state champion Butler High School.

Charles Henderson administrators have worked out a plan to send three buses to the game in order to allow as many students as possible to be a part of the Trojans' march to a championship.

&uot;We feel like it is very important for our students to be able to be at the game,&uot; CHHS principal Frank Brown said.

&uot;If there was any way we could have shut down the school without having to make up the days, we would have done it. Dr. Linda Felton-Smith looked at all the possibilities and there just wasn't a way to do it without having to make up days. The way our school calendar is, we would have had to make up the day either during the spring holiday, intercession or on a Saturday.

"People don't usually like that idea, so we decided the best solution would be to excuse students that wanted to go to the game from school, while still having a full day of school.&uot;

The cost for the students to ride the bus is $8. There is also an $8 charge for the game ticket.

The buses will leave from Troy at 6 a.m. and return to Troy at 6 p.m. on Friday.

Students that receive permission from their parents to ride in a car to the game will be required to sign in at the Jefferson County Civic Center in order to receive an excuse for not being in school.

Students who do not attend the game will still have a chance to cheer on the Trojans.

According to Brown, who expects a large number of Charles Henderson students to attend the game, the school will likely have just one lunch period instead of the usual three. During that period, the school will allow students to listen to the broadcast of the game on WTBF.

&uot;Right now we are in the process of collecting money and permission slips for students to go to the game on the bus,&uot; Brown said. &uot;It looks like we are going to have a large number of students attending the game. We don't expect to have a lot of students here on campus during lunch, so we plan on just having one lunch period. I understand that the local radio station will be carrying the feed from the Alabama High School Athletic Association, so we plan on letting students listen to broadcast during that period.&uot;

Should the Trojans knock off Butler, Charles Henderson will take three buses to Saturday's game.

Administrators will be on hand Saturday from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. at the cafeteria to register riders.

The cost increases by $2 due to increased ticket prices for Saturday's championship game, which will be held at 8 p.m.

"We have our fingers crossed that we're going to need the buses again on Saturday," Brown said.

Those buses will leave at noon.