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The concert was performed in front of parents, teachers and Croton-Harmon administrators. It celebrated Ecuador, the Middle East and Italy through art, music and poetry.
The third-graders wore traditional costume pieces, which were provided by the PTA, and performed dance numbers and songs, and recited poems from each region.
To prepare for the concert, which was directed by music teacher Marlena Peters in collaboration with librarian Melissa Heckler, the students researched various facts about each country.
Prior to the performance, CET hosted visitors from each country–two parents from Ecuador, a doctor from Syria and another parent from Italy–who brought in artifacts and spoke about life in their native countries.
“It was a great experience to have families come in, discuss their cultures and give the students a firsthand experience of what life is like there,” Peters said.
As part of their social studies classes, the students created hand projects representing their own cultures and displayed them as wall decorations during the concert.
“My favorite part was the Dabke dance because it was fun and it looked cool, like we were the professionals,” said third-grader Ava Andrews, whose class represented the Middle East.
Her fellow classmate, Jack Kooney, said he enjoyed learning about each country and performing on the drum as part of the concert. “It was really fun,” he said. “My classmates were good at singing and dancing.”
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