With cellphones in hand, parents snapped photos or recorded video of their children on stage at River Grove School Thursday evening.
The parents, along with teachers and school administrators, packed the school’s gym on Dec. 3 for the school’s second annual Family Holiday Sing-A-Long. Students from kindergarten to the third grade, along with the school’s Cadet Choir, each took the stage to perform holiday songs like “Jolly Old Saint Nicholas” and “Must be Santa.”
Lauren Trevino, 26, of River Grove had her cellphone ready to record her son, Jayden Rhaburn, 7, who was waiting to perform along with his fellow second grade students. She said her son wasn’t nervous.
“He said he likes to sing,” she said.
She was also happy to see a good turnout of parents at the event as well.
“I think that it’s a really nice idea, especially all the families coming together,” she said.
That was the idea behind the event, organized by River Grove Parent Teacher Association.
Natalie Lamphere, vice president of the school’s parent teacher association, said that was the main motivation behind the event.
“We’re trying to get more parents to come out and be involved — and it’s working,” she said.
She just wishes her children could have taken advantage of the event when they were younger. She currently has one son in the eighth grade at the school.
Travis Baker wanted to take a nap Friday evening, but his children, Dajuan, 6, Dashawni, 8, and niece Aubrey Grant, 8, made sure he made it to the school to see them perform.
“It was cool,” he said. “It’s something positive for the kids to do to keep them out of trouble.”
The event also acts as a fundraising event for the parent teacher association, which raises cash with a holiday shop. The association offers inexpensive gifts students and adults can buy.
Maureen Deahl, president of the school’s parent teacher association, said the proceeds get put to good use.
“At the end of the year we get ‘wish items’ from each of the teachers and put the money back into the classroom,” she said.
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