Scotty McCreery Prepares for Senior Year at His Hometown High School, Joins Benefit Concert Lineup

On Tuesday morning, Scotty McCreery announced he'd be returning home to Garner, N.C. to finish his senior year of high school. During an interview with WQDR in Raleigh, N.C., the 'American Idol' winner said he's going to tend to the promotional obligations surrounding the release of his debut album on October 4, but he should be home in time to catch most of the second half of the Garner Trojan football season.

"My mom, she's a certified K-12 teacher so she's taking care of business right now on the road," McCreery tells the Q-Morning Crew. "But come October and maybe some days in September … it's looking like I'm going to be able to go back to school and just be normal for a little bit. Back to Garner High, walking the halls again."

The 17-year-old recognizes it won't be entirely back-to-normal. After all, how many other seniors have a gold single or have spent their summer touring the country's biggest arenas? It may be somewhat of a leap of faith to believe he'll be able to melt back into the fabric of the community after all he's gone through.

"I think for the first couple of weeks maybe it might be a little weird, but then once all the kids and the faculty and everybody sees that I'm just the same old kid, and this show and this stuff hasn't changed me, there's going to be somewhat normalcy," McCreery said.

McCreery also asked if the radio station would allow him to participate in their annual concert benefiting the North Carolina Children's Hospital. The November 30 concert in Durham, N.C. features Brantley Gilbert, Jason Michael Carroll, Jerrod Niemann and David Nail. Having another hometown hero on the bill (Carroll is from the Raleigh area as well) will surely sell out the venue, raising big bucks for children fighting life threatening illnesses. Tickets for the show are available at DpacNC.com.