Sunday afternoon, Northwoods’ children, parents, alumni, grandparents, aunts and uncles, brothers and sisters, friends and all faculty and staff came together to celebrate the work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other peacemakers.
The photos that appear in this post are from the camera of Yanwen Guo, a parent volunteer. Many thanks to him and to the many parents who ushered, carried boxes, worked on the sound, created our slide show and cd and drove us in your cars to rehearsals. We couldn’t have done it without you!
Our theme this year was “Voices for Peace.” We made songbooks and put them out so our families could follow along:
Jay helped us set everything up.
Millie gave the opening.
Members of this year’s graduating class provided introductions for each number.
We enjoyed a slide presentation with pictures of the youngest children of the school:
We sat with our teachers waiting for our turn to get up on the risers and perform. It was a hard to wait, but it was worth it!
Several pianists from the student body played interludes for the periods of time when we were walking up or returning to our seats.
First, Suzanne’s and Lisa’s classes sang a song by Shelley Murley, “Light a Candle for Peace:”
Then, Millie’s class recited a poem about many “Places in the World.” They had memorized a great deal and were emphatic about their enunciation. We were all impressed.
The chorus sang “Sing Out a Joyful Song,” by Dave and Jean Perry. Their piece included a beautiful solo, which nearly took our breath away.
Chorus includes taller, older, children, because it includes both Primary (ages 3-6) and Elementary (ages 6-12).
All those practices paid off with a full, rich sound:
Patrick accompanied his class.
They sang, “Free to be You and Me,” by Steven Lawrence and Bruce Hart.
Julia accompanied her class, Hamida’s group:
They sang, “Peaceful World.” There was a tambourine part and two ensembles. Here’s one of the ensembles:
Leanna’s class exhorted us with the words for “Peace” in several languages after their song, “I Dream of the Day.” It was very moving.
Andrea’s class had prepared a special Georgia Sea Island Singers’ song, “Yonder Come Day,” and presented it complete with descant and drum section. Yes, they rocked.
We all sang, “Sing Your Way Home,” one of our favorites:
Gail provided a quick closing, . . .
. . .and soon we were out in the fresh air, posing for pictures with our friends and generally having a great time!
As mementos of the day, we have bookmarks with bright ribbons and a compact disc with all the music recorded earlier at school.
Sometimes when you look forward to something for a long time and it’s over, it’s hard to believe it’s over. At least we can play the cd and sing along in our cars!
Here’s a page from the inside of the program with the quotes we chose to represent our thoughts about this year’s theme, “Voices for Peace.”
Which one do you like best?
“Establishing lasting peace is the work of education.”
—Dr. Maria Montessori
“We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.”
—Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Better than a thousand hollow words is one word that brings peace.”
—Buddha
