Westbrook Winter Holiday Program a Magical Treat

First and second grade students in Mrs. Henderson, Mrs. McIntyre's, Ms. Duel and Ms. Kronborg-Mogil's classes all put on an incredible performance this Tuesday at .

It was all part of the school's annual Holiday program, a tradition that has been going on for over 30 years, and likely longer.

"An incredible amount of planning went into this," Westbrook Principal Lori Hinton said. "The kids all started getting ready for this way back in November."

The program, entitled "Flakes," (as in snowflakes), included eight different scenes, which all included dozens of speaking parts. It also included eight different songs performed by all of the students simultaneously.

"This event is all about the students," Westbrook music teacher Amy Banas said. "Everything you see here was created by the students. All the decorations, all of the instruments, and there are even student-created speaking lines."

Banas collaborated with drama teacher Ilbra Shabaz, and art teacher Linda Rodriguez, to help make the event happen. Judging by the looks of joy on the faces of the teachers, parents, grandparents and family members who attended, it was a smashing success.

Smiles were plentiful on the faces of the Westbrook students, too. Some family members even brought flowers to give to their kids afterward.

In addition to the two performances that took place on Dec. 13, there are two more performances taking place today (Dec. 14) at Westbrook, at 9:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.

Guest Editor's note: Thank you Westbrook students, staff and family members of the children! I attended Westbrook as a child, and was in the same performances in first, second and third grades over 25 years ago, so to be able to see the kids performing yesterday was a truly wonderful experience for me.

I will also be writing a short column this week relating yesterday's experience to my own, in a way that I hope you all enjoy reading. District 34 students are so blessed to have such a wonderful school system, and always have been. 

-Tim Froehlig, Glenview Patch

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