To celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, the Columbus Avenue Early Childhood Center in the Freeport School District held a special assembly that showcased performances from five of its Dual Language program classes.
Principal Peggy Miller opened the show with a warm greeting to the students and visiting parents, explaining the importance of celebrating family heritage. The fun, educational and interactive singing performances began with music teacher Stephanie Arnell, the coordinator of the event, leading the assembly in a lively performance of "Bate, Bate Chocolate," a children's ditty that loosely translates to "Mix, Mix the Chocolate." Catherine Byrne's and Raquel Lucas's classes maintained high energy with their performance of "Manos Arriba, Manos Abajo," a sing-along that encouraged the audience to raise and lower their hands with the singers. Teachers Ana Fruchtnis and Cindy Nicholas brought in a visual element with placards they had prepared for their classes' singing of "Los Siete Días de la Semana" ("The Seven Days of the Week").
Mrs. Arnell then projected a series of flags on a portable SmartBoard as part of a quiz show in which students were challenged to "Guess the Country" the flag represented. A show of hands demonstrated that many of the students were up to the challenge.
Transitional ESL teacher Emmy Nicholas and her class, who were billed in the program as "The Latin All-Star Dancers," closed out the assembly with their interpretation of the merengue, a traditional dance from the Dominican Republic. Parents, staff and students clapped along to the lively number.
As Principal Miller described the event, "We're a multicultural community, and the way we celebrate our diversity and commonality is with music and dance."