LEWISTON – On a recent afternoon, teacher Zanada Maleki led Montello Elementary fifth- and sixth-graders in rehearsing the song “Let’s Talk It Through.”

Filling the stage were girls wearing jeans, girls wearing hijabs; boys named Mohamed, boys named Chris. They sang in harmony: “We’ve got to listen and talk. Ev’rybody’s got a point of view. Listen and really hear till we are clear.”

While adults hotly debated whether too much was made of a Lewiston Middle School student harassing Somali boys with some ham on April 11, students were working on a performance about getting along. The musical review, “Together” will be performed May 24. Students began working on it in March.

“‘Together’ is a celebration of our global community,” explained fifth-grade teacher Danielle Harris, who heads up the school’s annual drama performance.

The musical review is intended to teach about tolerance through singing, acting and speaking. “I’m hoping the kids are going to internalize the message that you have to listen to other people and really hear what they have to say,” Harris said. “Tolerate – and celebrate – the fact that other people are different.”

Montello is among the largest K-6 schools in Maine. About 20 percent of its students are Somali.

Overall, things are going well at the school, said Principal Deborah Goding. White kids are friends with black kids. “We have more immigrant students, but they’re just kids,” she said.

Sue Martin, who heads up English Language Learners programs for the school department, said there are more than 560 immigrant students in Lewiston. “When you have lots of young people there’ll always be some level of conflict,” Martin said. “Generally things go well.”

The schools promote “respect for everybody in a safe environment,” she said. “The message is that everyone who comes to school has a right to feel safe. They don’t have to be everyone’s friend, but they owe them a level of tolerance.”

At Montello the school has the “Chill Group.” It includes a core of fifth- and sixth-graders who receive training about preventing prejudice and hate violence. Those students then give presentations to all classrooms.

Sixth-grader Marina Affo, 12, is in the Chill Group. “It teaches kids to stop teasing each other and being mean to each other,” Marina said while other students sang on stage. “If you learn about each other you can make more friends.”

The Chill Group has helped, Marina said. “Before there were fights and kids being mean. Afterwards the teachers and kids have noticed there’s not a lot of fighting anymore.”

They sang: “Sometimes what you think may be hard to understand. Sometimes what we think is just the same. No matter how it goes, we’ll just keep talking…”

She and fellow student Mohamed Mohamud, 11, recommend people come see “Together.”

It has a message of “not to start violence, to look at things in different ways” and listen, Mohamed said. “Let’s talk it through instead of arguing … You say what you want to say. They say what they want to say.”

Montello parent and student teacher Sherry Johannes said her family recently moved from Madawaska to Lewiston. This is the first year at Montello for her two daughters.

She knew the school had a large immigrant population. As a student teacher, she wasn’t sure what to expect in the classroom.

“But it wasn’t a problem at all,” Johannes said. “Kids are kids. I think they get along great.” Both of her daughters have “many Somali friends.”

Chantal Pelletier, Johannes’ oldest daughter, will be in the May 24 musical review. Johannes said she approves of the theme.

“They’re sending an awesome message to the community.”

Go and do

What: Musical review about different people getting along: “Together,” by Montello Elementary School drama students

When: 6:30 p.m. May 24

Where: Montello Elementary School, Lewiston

Recommended reading from fifth-grade teacher Danielle Harris:

“The Middle of Everywhere” book about immigrants moving to Lincoln, Neb., by Mary Pipher.