Molly ShoreA slight drizzle did not dampen...
Molly Shore
A slight drizzle did not dampen the spirits of Washington Elementary
School students during their outdoor spring dance program.
The mood, music and costumes were festive, as the school’s
kindergarten through fourth-grade classes boogied, stepped and swayed
to 1950s through 1980s rock ‘n’ roll, the Mexican Hat Dance and the
sounds of the Hawaiian Islands.
“I actually liked performing. It was a lot of fun,” Jeremy
Labertew, 10, said after finishing his routine Friday morning on the
school playground.
Jeremy and classmates in Barbara Chang’s fourth-grade class
practiced for three weeks to perfect their dance steps to such rock
classics as Elvis Presley’s “You Ain’t Nothing But a Hound Dog” and
the Bee Gees’ “Stayin’ Alive.” On Thursday, Chang’s students wore
tie-dyed T-shirts they made themselves.
“I wanted to have fun songs that they’d be exposed to,” Chang
said.
When asked to comment on his participation in the dance program,
Christopher Ilasco, a student in Jennifer Ortiga’s kindergarten
class, blurted out, “I’m 6-years-old. I’m almost in the first grade.”
Christopher’s mom, Emma Ilasco, attended the performance at the
request of her son.
“I want you to be there to tell me how good I am,” she said her
son told her.
At the program’s finale, all the children who danced came back out
onto the playground’s blacktop to sing and sign to “Somewhere Over
the Rainbow.”
“It’s a great way for the children to express themselves
creatively, and for the teachers as well,” Principal Jane Clausen
said.