Ridgefield Montessori School Pumps Up the Volume

Late last week, parents eagerly gathered in a Ridgefield Montessori School Classroom, to see their children shine like stars. The annual spring concert and kindergarten play began with a few nervous actors and actresses looking out into the crowd for their families.

The play, “The Moss Covered Rock,” was adapted from an African Folk Tale that the children had read in class. Shannon Egan, the kindergartners’ teacher gave the children the opportunity to involve themselves in the playwriting process.

“Ms. Shannon and the kids have pretty much written the play,” RMS director, Cathy Tango, announced to the audience.

With faces fully painted and costumes ready to flaunt, kindergartners marched into their classroom, in song. Some of the most elaborate costumes were created for students playing lions, elephants and zebras. Not one detail was missed and the kindergartners were able to bloom into their characters without hesitation.

“I think [the events] are great,” parent, Marisol Cueso said. “They build self-esteem and self-confidence; I think that [the events] are wonderful.”

Cueso’s daughter, Anna, stood by her assistant teacher, Samantha Dickerson to greet guests as they entered the room. She handed out playbooks with a smile and kept a close watch on her younger brother, Christopher. Both Anna and Christopher performed in the concert.

“They have been very, very excited,” Dickerson said of the students. “They helped create the scenes. They have been very hands-on with everything.” 

The kindergartners were the only students who acted in the fifteen-minute play. After their finale,  they invited the Pre-K students up to the stage to perform songs like Tingalayo, a traditional West Indies song, This Land is Your Land by Woody Guthrie and Ku Ku Way, a traditional Harvest Celebration song from Guinea, West Africa.

They learn songs throughout the year,” Tango said.  “They incorporate songs from their foreign language class. About a month ago they started preparing for the event.”

The children have had the opportunity to work with two passionate music teachers, who helped them build the confidence to perform for their families. Ase-AmenRa Kariamu, a year round teacher, and Eliza Roemer-Mueller, a half-year teacher, worked with the students to teach them about songs, rhythm, and performance.

“We’ve been working on a traditional West African, Harvest Celebration song called Ku Ku,” Kariamu said. “It is from Guinea, West Africa,” he remarked. “I have taught them a brief history of the drum, the importance of the drum, and how the human heart is a drum in itself.”

One of the points that Kariamu had emphasized, was the fact that the use of drums is one of the oldest forms of communication. While the children were learning about the drums this year, Kariamu brought in some gourds to show the children that they can make music with natural items around them.

“I showed them the many things they can make,” he said. “They got that exposure as well.”

Kariamu made the drums that they children had used for their African drum performance on Thursday morning. Kariamu joined the children for the performance by playing his own hand-made drum. One of the lessons he would like the children to take from their drum and West Africa learning experience was how highly elders are respected in all of West Africa.

Roemer warmed the children up before the performance with silly noises and a few ‘do-re-mis.’ The visually nervous children calmed down when she began to strum her guitar. Another helpful member of the staff was Egan. She read The Moss Covered Rock, in between the children’s scenes.

The children left school on Thursday, proud of their hard work. Parents couldn’t be happier to see their children’s involvement in RMS. On the way out the door, many parents complimented the teachers effort in instructing their children.

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