School yard rocks with Thriller performance

The students of Worthington Estates Elementary School created a thrilling spectacle on the grounds of the school last Friday morning.

All 472 students –give or take a few – lined up and spread out across the lawn and danced together to several favorite songs.

The highlighted number was Michael Jackson's "Thriller." All of the kids, from tiny tykes to budding adolescents, stepped and shimmied, slithered and jumped in a carefully choreographed production that ended with the whole school lying on the ground.

Everyone, from kindergartners to sixth-graders, had been practicing dance for several weeks as part of an integrated unit on dance in their music and physical education classes.

Many also wore tie-dyed shirts they made in art class.

Susan Wilson is the music teacher and Katie Cicero the physical education teacher at the Rieber Street school.

Co-principal Jennifer Williams said that all students seemed to enjoy dancing. Next year, each day may start with dancing, she said.

"Even the most challenged kids settle down because the music gets to them," she said.

Fourth-grader Caroline Girard said that learning the dances was "complicated but fun," and took much focus.

The payoff was doing something with the entire school, and enjoying the camaraderie of others in your class, said Katherine Miller, also in the fourth grade.

"You got to have more fun with people in your class than you usually do," she said.