Molly ShoreA slight drizzle did not dampen...

Molly Shore

A slight drizzle did not dampen the spirits of Washington Elementary

School students during their outdoor spring dance program.

The mood, music and costumes were festive, as the school’s

kindergarten through fourth-grade classes boogied, stepped and swayed

to 1950s through 1980s rock ‘n’ roll, the Mexican Hat Dance and the

sounds of the Hawaiian Islands.

“I actually liked performing. It was a lot of fun,” Jeremy

Labertew, 10, said after finishing his routine Friday morning on the

school playground.

Jeremy and classmates in Barbara Chang’s fourth-grade class

practiced for three weeks to perfect their dance steps to such rock

classics as Elvis Presley’s “You Ain’t Nothing But a Hound Dog” and

the Bee Gees’ “Stayin’ Alive.” On Thursday, Chang’s students wore

tie-dyed T-shirts they made themselves.

“I wanted to have fun songs that they’d be exposed to,” Chang

said.

When asked to comment on his participation in the dance program,

Christopher Ilasco, a student in Jennifer Ortiga’s kindergarten

class, blurted out, “I’m 6-years-old. I’m almost in the first grade.”

Christopher’s mom, Emma Ilasco, attended the performance at the

request of her son.

“I want you to be there to tell me how good I am,” she said her

son told her.

At the program’s finale, all the children who danced came back out

onto the playground’s blacktop to sing and sign to “Somewhere Over

the Rainbow.”

“It’s a great way for the children to express themselves

creatively, and for the teachers as well,” Principal Jane Clausen

said.