's students spread their holiday cheer Dec. 14 as they sang to a packed gymnasium of family and friends.
Teacheres Colleen Grzywacz and Roberta Maher directed the fifth and sixth grade choruses, and the Select Choir, who all sang a selection of Hanukkah, Christmas and winter songs.
The students began preparing for their winter concert in September, Maher said.
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"We see the kids only once every six days," she said. "It's sometimes challenging to try to get all the kids ready, but they rise to the occasion."
Maher called the students' performance in front of their peers earlier in the day "always really interesting."
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"They're less likely to sing completely out because they're a little self-conscious," she said. "But tonight, they did beautifully. They do great in front of their parents."
The evening began with three songs by the fifth grade chorus, followed by the Select Choir, a group of roughly 55 students who audition at the beginning of the school year.
"They have to be able to sing completely in tune, have some good hearing and be able to really blend with everybody," Maher said.
The group meets during their lunchtimes once each cycle.
"We eat together for a little bit, and then we rehearse for the rest of the time," Maher said.
In addition to the concert, the choir has sung at the Bridgewater Public Library and the 4-H Festival of Trees.
"We try to take them out on gigs," Maher said.
Following the Select Choir's two songs, the sixth grade chorus gathered on the risers to sing four songs, including "Christmas Time," a song written by their own Cassie Mountney.
"'Christmas was just in my mind, and I just wrote it down," she said after the concert, adding that she often sings in the bathroom and writes songs down when she likes them.
She began meeting early in the morning before school with Maher, so that she could help her with the music.
"She had the melody in her head, so the teacher had to take the melody out of her head and put it down into writing," Mountney's mother, Sandy, said. "She was also helping to teach Cassie the music theory about putting together the different verses, the syncopation."
Cassie Mountney said she was nervous when she premiered her song in front of the school.
"When my song came up, I was really nervous that I started tearing up, but I just kept on smiling," she said.
"Afterward everybody kept saying, 'You did a really good job,' and 'I loved your song,'" she said. "It made me feel special."
Sandy Mountney said she was overwhelmed.
"I get goosebumps every time I hear it," she said. "It's just wonderful hearing the catchy tunes pick up."
All of the choruses joined together—between 250 and 275 students—to end the concert with "Lift Up Your Voice, Alleluia."
"The kids were great," said Cara Pestorious, whose son, Riley, sings with the sixth grade chorus and Select Choir. Her favorite song, she said, was "Christmas…In About Three Minutes," a mash-up of popular songs.
"He loves to sing," she said. "And he loves the directors. Mrs. Maher and Mrs. Grzywacz are so good and really make it fun."
Sandy Mountney echoed those sentiments.
"I've known them for at least five and six years between the two of them, [Cassie and my son, Kyle], going through the school, and they're just absolutely amazing teachers," she said. "They always do a fabulous job here."
