Grandparents and grandfriends enjoyed the morning and part of the afternoon with Boothbay Region Elementary School kindergarten through fourth grade classes May 24. Student Hayley Holbrook welcomed guests to the concert and Julian Carver instructed all to stand for The Star-Spangled Banner. 

Each class had a performance for the audience. Kindergartner Jessie Major introduced the first piece on the program, “Follow the Rainbow," a performance complete with scarves representing each color of the rainbow.

Shawn Gamage introduced the first grade’s performance of the traditional Irish tune “Brian Boru’s March” explaining the use of rhythm sticks. “Sometimes we use rhythm sticks to practice a steady beat. Sometimes we use them to show the form or design of a piece of music.”

Fourth graders then performed Pete Seeger’s classic “If I Had a Hammer.” “Pete Seeger was a famous American singer, song collector and songwriter,” said Meredith Ames. “While he was alive, he encouraged everyone to sing. This year marks the 100th anniversary of his birth.”

Third graders performed the classic schoolchildren’s song “Hey Jim Along” and Aiden Locke shared the importance of songwriter and music teacher Carl Orff.

“Carl Orff is known for his famous musical compositions, but he was also an inspired music teacher. His teaching philosophy is now used in schools around the world and at BRES. It involves speech, movement, song and instruments.”

Ally Warren introduced the second grade’s performance of “The Story of Chicken Little” which involved percussion and storytelling and then Sophia Mansfield thanked BRES guests for attending the concert.

“We’ve had a lot of fun performing for you and we are eager to welcome you to our classrooms,” said Mansfield. “Thank you for coming today and – adios, amigos!”

All five classes joined together rounding out the concert with the farewell tune “Adios, Amigos!” 

Music teacher Genie O’Connell said the students did a great job performing and that it was also fun for her to help students show some of the things they do in school. Said O’Connell, “It wasn't a Disney show this year, but they had lots of fun and they do get very excited about it. Then they get to fifth grade and they'll say, 'Oh, it's Grandparents Day – it's no big deal.' But it is and some of them miss it. It is fun and it's good for the community because they get a little bit of a chance to see what's going on here.”