Gingerbread sang and candy canes danced

ISHPEMING TOWNSHIP –Thursday morning, students at a local elementary school put on candy cane suits and shooting star costumes while belting out holiday cheer.

The Aspen Ridge Elementary School winter concert is put on by 600 students, starting from preschool to fifth grade. The production was held at Westwood High School, and it typically draws in 1,000 fans.

“First of all music is a lifelong skill, so once students have the opportunity to get a taste of music this is something they will have for the rest of their lives,” Music teacher Courtney Saberniak said. “Also, this allows the students to get such a boost of confidence. The more I see the students perform, the more confident they get. The joy that we see on their faces building up to this performance day, is just incredible. And the last thing is this is an amazing outreach to the community. Letting them come in and see what our students are capable of, which is pretty impressive.”

Each grade put on a different performance. Along with practicing holiday songs, the third through fifth grade classes rehearsed lines and actions to put on a full musical in the afternoon.