Winter Music Program Brings Students Together Once Again for Joyful Performances

The students at Saint Michael Parish School were thrilled to have their winter music program back in person this Christmas. All of the students’ hard work was showcased in a special concert on Dec. 16. Erika Peterson, who teaches music at the school, was grateful for the students to have this opportunity again.

“Coming together again and just celebrating helped kick off their vacation time together,” Mrs. Peterson says. The students celebrated the end of a semester and the beginning of a joyful Christmas break by performing sacred music in the sanctuary of the church. The sanctuary was the ideal setting to allow the children to be safely spaced during their performance. In turn, Mrs. Peterson chose music that would be reverent and a reminder of the sacred space they were in.

Each class prepared a song, the middle school choir performed, followed by the fourth and fifth-grade band. A favorite feature of the show was the kindergarten portrayal of the Nativity story. The kindergarten class worked hard learning the story of Jesus’ birth and turning it into a play.

“They came up with their own narrative,” Mrs. Peterson says. “What would Mary say if she met the angel? What would the star say to the Wise Men?”

Since the students weren’t able to sing together or gather to perform last year, Mrs. Peterson had each class learn a stanza of a poem. She recorded them and then gave the students an option to film themselves singing a song at home, which Mrs. Peterson edited together to make into a virtual choir. The kindergarten Nativity story was filmed in the classroom and Mrs. Peterson compiled it into a video to send to the families. Although everyone enjoyed these unique opportunities to be creative last year — the resulting video was a tribute to the students’ hard work — being able to really sing together was missed.

“It’s really been wonderful this year to sing with the kids again,” Mrs. Peterson says.

Since some students who attend the school are not parishioners, the concert was a wonderful opportunity to bring them and their families into the church and invite them back for the Christmas Masses. We hope that experiencing the church while their children were singing made them feel welcomed and at home.

“It was a good evangelization opportunity for those families who don’t have a church home,” Mrs. Peterson says.

After their performance, the students had a half-day of school before entering a restful Christmas break.

“I think it put us into a spirit of thanksgiving and gratitude for the church and the ‘Family of Families’ at Saint Michael,” Mrs. Peterson says.