Kindergartners from Crescent Harbor Elementary School brought cultures from around the world to the school’s gymnasium Thursday night. Around 100 students gathered for the school’s first World Music concert.

“We have a very diverse student body,” said music teacher Elaine Gore. “Two-thirds of our kids are Navy kids, and they come from all over the world.”

The music from the program included folk songs from Mexico, Ghana, the Philippines and Ireland, along with songs from American folk singers Woody Guthrie and Ella Jenkins.

The students moved to the beat of African tubano drums and sang in different languages for the performance that took place 6 p.m. Thursday.

“They didn’t balk at all about singing in a foreign language,” Gore said.

She said the older students are often convinced they won’t be able to do so, but kindergartners are young enough to not worry about it.

Lola Wilcox, one of the kindergartners, said she liked singing in Spanish and she also was one of the tubano drummers.

Josiah Wilder, a reader for the program, said his favorite part of the program was “all of it.”

Gore and other music teachers in the district went to the Smithsonian World Music Pedagogy, a certification workshop that allowed the concert to happen.

Gore and the other teachers spent the week learning about dances and instruments from around the world.

The school had accumulated a number of percussion instruments from around the world over the years, she said, “and we really started using them this year.”

“I think a concert like this helps us to say we’re all from different places and they’re all good,” Gore said.

Crescent Harbor Elementary School kindergartners wave goodbye as they sing their last song, Chotto Matte Kudasai, which is Japanese for wait a moment, please. Photo by Laura Guido/Whidbey News Group

The whole Crescent Harbor Elementary School kindergarten class gathers for a dress rehearsal Thursday for the World Music program. The students sang songs from Mexico, the Philippines, Ghana and Ireland as part of the concert. Photo by Laura Guido/Whidbey News Group