On March 17, Alburtis Elementary School students and staff were treated to an afternoon of music called “Jammin’ Through the Decades.” Music teacher Julia Wetherhold worked with the fifth grade teachers Megan Barry, Abigail Hoosier and Sean Nolan and their students to entertain the audience with music from the various decades.

Students educated the audience about the decade and song choices that included Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5” and “Good Riddance” by Billie Joe Armstrong, Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Ode to Composers” and the African-American spiritual “Down by the Riverside.”

Latin music was represented in “Baila Esta Cumbia” written by A.B. Quintanilla and Pete Astudillo. Guitars, drums and other instruments were brought out to Jon Bon Jovi’s “It’s My Life” written by Jon Bon Jovi, Martin Sandberg and Richie Sambora.

The fifth grade students used their emotional energy for “The Blues” by Teresa Jennings with arrangement by Paul Jennings. But it was NSYNC’s “Bye, Bye, Bye” that had the students performing as well as singing the popular number’s arrangement by Stephen DeCesare.

The program concluded with Duke Ellington’s “It Don’t Mean A Thing” with arrangement by Tim Anderson. The students had been preparing for this production for months in their music classes and appeared excited to share what they learned about various styles of music through the decades before them being born.

For the older adults in attendance, they appreciated recalling the wonderful memories of their youth through these songs but struggling to learn the music is now considered “the oldies.”