Max Martinez, a second-grade student at Westwood School, listened intently as Santa Claus spoke to students about his favorite types of cookies and beverages during the school’s annual Christmas Sing Along on Wednesday.
And while Martinez agreed that chocolate chip cookies are the best kind of cookie to leave out, he was surprised to hear that Jolly Old Saint Nick preferred chocolate milk more than regular 2%.
“When he said he loved chocolate milk, I said, ‘Me too!’” Martinez said. “All of these (past) seven Christmases, I’ve always just been leaving him regular milk.”
The special visit from Santa was just one of many happenings that occurred during the Sing Along in the gym at Westwood. A longstanding tradition, the program is a “fun time for students and teachers” alike, said Tiffany Hunt, the music director at Westwood.
“It’s really just a special time for us to all get together before we leave for Christmas break and kind of do one last ‘Hurrah’ before we part ways for a couple of weeks,” Hunt said. “The teachers love it just as much.”
During the program, students from the school’s pre-kindergarten (pre-k) classrooms all the way to the fifth-grade classes sang holiday classics, including “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” “Jingle Bells” and “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” while Westwood ESS (Exceptional Student Services) paraprofessional Julie Michmerhuizen introduced performers to the stage.
Westwood pre-k students performed “The Lights on the Christmas Tree” (a merry twist on “The Wheels on the Bus” children’s song), while the school’s fourth- and fifth-grade chorus students sang “Este es la Navidad,” a Spanish-lyric Christmas tune.
Michmerhuizen also introduced students in the school’s dual-language Spanish-immersion classrooms, who sang “Jingle Bells” and “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” in both English and Spanish, as well as students across all grades who performed cardio drumming routines to songs such as “Hip-Hop Reindeer” and “Jingle Bell Rock.”
Cardio drumming, which combines cardio exercise and drumming to the rhythm of music, involves the use of a five-gallon bucket, beach ball and foam pipe insulation that act as drumsticks. A cardio drumming unit is taught at Westwood as part of a collaboration between the school’s music and physical education (P.E.) classes, said Hunt.
“Last year we did cardio drumming in the spring, but this year we wanted to do it for Christmas,” Hunt said. “Lots of music uses movement to identify form and themes, so it was really about getting music into movement and just kind of combining those.”
Fifth-grade student Will Burgess, who sang during the program, said the cardio drumming was one of his favorite things to watch.
“It’s like P.E. and music mushed together,” he said.
Martinez, who performed a cardio drumming routine to a selection from “The Nutcracker Suite,” said the performance “went good.”
“When I got up there, I was really nervous at first,” Martinez said. “But then I took a deep breath to calm myself down.”
Hunt said teachers perform skits alongside the students during the program each year.
“The teachers always sing ‘Silent Night’ and read ‘The Night Before Christmas,’ which we brought back this year after not doing it last year,” she said.
Teachers and students also combined to perform a “12 Days of Christmas” skit.
“That is always fun,” Hunt said. “It’s a fan-favorite every year.”
Kami Harrison, who received the fifth-grade Student of the Month award for November, was recognized with other student grade-winners during the program.
“I thought it went good and I thought it was fun,” Harrison said of the Sing Along. “This was my seventh one and also my last one. My favorite song was ‘Feliz Navidad.’”
“It was fun just sitting there watching everyone do what they were doing,” said Burgess. “For me, going up there and looking at the whole (school), it can be tough.”
Burgess said his siblings have participated in past Christmas Sing Alongs.
“It feels like an important tradition at school each year before Christmas,” he said.
While Martinez said there are “so many good parts” to performing in the program, he’s just glad he was able to “change things up” this year.
“I’ve done it for a few years,” he said. “Every year (prior), I had to be the ‘six geese-a-laying’ (as part of the “12 Days of Christmas” skit). Every time.”
Martinez said as he prepares for Christmas break the biggest takeaway of the program this year was what to leave out for Santa Claus.
“I feel like Santa is going to like the chocolate milk I have at home because I get it from Mexico,” he said.
Harrison and Burgess agreed.
“One time we had to put chocolate milk out because we didn’t have regular milk,” Harrison said. “Now, I know he likes it.”