Holiday concert doubles as a learning exercise for Ellerslie students

The annual holiday concert at EllerslieElementary in Ellerslie, P.E.I., took the audience beyond the usual carols and pageantryfor a global showcase of Christmas celebrations.

The concert's theme wasChristmas around the World and the students in each classspent the last few weeks learning about theChristmastraditions in a different part of the world.

"Everyone got together and it all planned out perfectly,"said grade 6 student Ava Perry after the concert on Thursday. "It was really nice."

Students from kindergarten to grade six performed songs, dances and played instruments for the audience.

Some students from Lennox Island preformed a Mi'kmaq presentation and other students sang traditional Acadian songs.

Even before they appearedon stage, the students had also worked hard to learn aboutthe different countries they represented.

"In preparing the bulletin boards they had to do some research about different cultures, so how people in Ireland might celebrate Christmas, how people in the Netherlands might celebrate Christmas," said principal Jason Cormier.

"So we used it as an opportunity to research other countries, other cultures."

Students worked with their music teacher for weeks to prepare sets, costumes and rehearse their songs.

"I love to see children enjoying themselves musically, whether it's through singing ordance or drama... it's really important that I see the students really enjoying the moment and I think they did today," said music teacher Garth MacKay.

The school is planning moremulticultural events in the new yearto encourage the students to keep learning about the world.

"We want to make sure our students are globally aware and understand that there are so many people that offer so many things to our great province," saidCormier.

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