RESEDA : Third-Graders Sing Out Loud for Peace

They were too young to remember all the words without prompting, but a class of third-graders at Bertrand Avenue School were just old enough to catch the meaning of the songs they sang at a performance preaching nonviolence Wednesday.

Teacher Melissa Albertson said many of the children at the racially mixed Reseda school are “street-smart”, and added that even third-graders have to deal with crime and racial tensions in their neighborhoods.

Albertson directed the class in a performance of songs, including Michael Jackson’s “Heal the World,” and speeches before an audience of parents, older students and district officials in the auditorium Wednesday.

The idea for the show came in April, around the time of the verdict in the federal civil-rights trial involving the Rodney G. King beating, she said. The children had written down their feelings about nonviolence to help ease tensions during the trial, and Albertson decided to incorporate the writings into a live performance.

Asked what peace meant to her, 9-year-old Alisha Letts read from a paper she’d written about crime. “We should not be afraid to walk out of our houses and worry that someone will shoot us and take all our money,” she said.

Steven Kegley, senior lead officer with the West Valley Division of the Los Angeles Police Department, came to watch the performance and said later that it made him “a bit emotional.”

Albertson said she thought the songs and speeches, which the children have been practicing for several months, have helped maintain good relations with the student body.

“These are not your typical third-graders,” Albertson said. “These kids are street-smart. They know a lot. They hear a lot from their older siblings. They are very aware.”