Jefferson Fifth Graders Can “Sing, Sing, Sing”

Students were having a great time during the afternoon fifth grade choral concert at on May 9. 

The entire student body, from kindergarten through fourth grade, piled into the all-purpose room at the school to hear their peers sing songs and play the hand chimes. The 42-student chorus performed two times – at 2 p.m. for their classmates and again at 7 p.m. for their parents and friends.

Under the direction of Tiffany Tarleton, they began their performance by singing “Au Clair de la Lune,” a traditional French song arranged by Carol Jay, in both French and English. It was followed by “Sing, Sing, Sing,” written by Louis Prima and arranged by Mark A. Miller, where the chorus put a lot of movement into the piece.

Then came the Duke Ellington classic “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If it Ain’t Got That Swing),” arranged by David Eddleman. Chorus members were all over the stage pretending to play trumpets, drums and clarinets.

Their excellent singing talents continued with several duets during “Think on These Things” written by Mike Watson.

Then came the Sherman & Sherman hit “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” from the movie Mary Poppins. It was evident that the fifth-graders thoroughly enjoying singing this, as they were running back and forth on the stage doing some silly actions.

While most of the chorus took a break, 11 of them stepped forward to play several pieces on the hand chimes. It takes a real talent to be able to read the musical notes and have such beautiful sound come from those instruments.

The chorus’ final three pieces, “Fifty Nifty United States” written by Ray Charles, “Heart of America” and “Forever Friends” both written by Teresa Jennings, were also enjoyed greatly by the audience. The catchy tunes had everyone stomping their feet and clapping their hands to the beat of the music.

As it all came to an end, everyone clapped for their fellow students and the wonderful performance they presented.

“The Spring Concert always makes me a little sad,” said Jefferson Principal Cheryl Scalzo at the conclusion of the concert, “because these students are moving to middle school next year.”