2026 Challenger International Festival

The GHIC helped to sponsor the annual Challenger International Festival at St. Stephens High School on Saturday, April 11, 2026. Several members on the youth council are affilliated with this program.

Challenger Early College High School is a small, selective public high school on the campus of Catawba Valley Community College in Hickory, North Carolina, designed to graduate students with both a high school diploma and significant college credit (often an associate’s degree). It is part of Catawba County Schools but serves multiple nearby districts through the Catawba Valley Education Consortium. The student body is notably diverse for the area, with a total minority enrollment of about 60% and a substantial share of economically disadvantaged students (around 45–50%).

The festival included international food and multicultural dances.  Below are photographs from the 2026 event.