Bill Ballenger, pictured above, will bring his unique style of motivational speaking to area schools from Jan. 26 – 30. (File Photo/Charles Molineaux)

From Staff Reports

Bill Ballenger, motivational speaker, and international recording artist, is bringing his “Break the Grey” program to area schools Jan. 26-30. The program discusses issues such as substance abuse, suicide, bullying, peer pressure, self worth, life and death, and inner beauty among high school and middle school students.

Ballenger will be speaking this week to 5,700 students at Lee High School, New Century Technology High School, Monrovia Middle School, Butler High School, Challenger Elementary, Challenger Middle, Sparkman Ninth Grade School, Johnson High School and St. John Paul II Catholic High School according to a press release.

Part of Break the Grey’s format is traveling with a cast of college age BTG interns who perform relevant skits coupled with popular music and a multimedia presentation with screens and projectors.  Ballenger has a story to share of bad choices culminating in a three-year prison conviction for him and his wife in Indiana at 18.  He shares his story challenging students not to make the choices he made and to take their lives and their futures seriously.

Break the Grey has traveled across the U.S. and Canada with these messages bringing long-term change to the students’ lives. It is a non-profit organization defining life for America’s youth through the public school system and beyond.

Every day another life is lost somewhere between the clutches of indecision, uncertainty, right and wrong.  Through assembly programs, internship, concert events, and outreaches, Break the Grey continues to offer a message of character development, integrity and absolutes to this generation.

More information about Bill Ballenger and Break the Grey can be found at www.breakthegrey.com