AUBURN – It’s not easy keeping a gymnasium full of wriggling kindergarten-through-sixth-grade students eager, happy and paying attention two days before their winter vacation, according to Park Avenue Elementary School Principal Vicki Gaylord.

“And it’s tough finding a range of material that appeals to that diverse a group,” she said.

Park Avenue School celebrated its last sing-along of the year Wednesday afternoon with holiday favorites and a short salute to eight winter holidays. It was a longer program but similar to the popular morning sings the school has hosted since it opened last year.

“We try to do one every other week, as a way to build pride in the school and the community,” Gaylord said. But while the morning sing-alongs are normally 20-minute affairs, Wednesday’s was an hour long. It featured performances by the school’s chorus and faculty members and short explanations of eight winter celebrations – Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, the Chinese New Year, the winter solstice and Eid al-Adha, a four-day Muslim celebration.

Gaylord said the holiday sing-along had been scheduled for Thursday, the last day of school for Auburn’s students and the first day of Eid Al-Adha. Gaylord moved the celebration up a day so Muslim students could participate.

“But then, most of the Muslim parents kept their children home anyway,” Gaylord said.