This evening, first-graders and second-graders at Woodward Elementary School will be performing 10 holiday songs and dances at Willis as part of an annual program.
Woodward Music Teacher Mandi Rederstorff rehearsed with the students Wednesday afternoon in front of the rest of the student body at Woodward. Both grades performed four song separately and combined together to do two more songs, including student favorite “Polar Puppy.”
They will perform again today at 7 p.m. at the Willis Education Center, 74 W. William St., Delaware. The event is free.
“The students have been practicing since the beginning of November,” Rederstorff said. “It’s something we choose to do every year for the kids.”
Rederstorff said the concert meets Ohio education standards and gives the students a chance to show off what they’ve been learning in music class.
“I’ve been here for 17 years, and they were doing this before I got here,” Rederstorff said. “It’s something that’s very unique to Woodward.”
Rederstorff said she’s been involved in the concert for the last 16 years, and since the school has grown, she’s seen more attendance and more involvement from the community.
“Its evolved into a Woodward tradition, really,” Rederstorff said. “It’s something they all look forward to.”
Rederstorff said since every student participates in the concert when they are in first and second grade, the entire student body knows some words and dances to songs, especially “Polar Puppy.” During the rehearsal Wednesday, the audience of older students began singing and dancing along when the first- and second-grade singers sang “Polar Puppy.”
“Any song we can dance or play instruments with is going to be a successful piece of music,” Rederstorff said. “‘Polar Puppy’ is a song we’ve been singing at the end of these concerts for 14 or 15 years. We have to do it. This one goes back many, many years. We can’t do a concert without ‘Polar Puppy.’”
