FAIRBANKS — It’s tradition. For the past 10 years or so, first graders at University Park Elementary School have gone classroom to classroom singing merrily for all their peers to see.

This year, about 80 students gathered in the halls to sing some holiday favorites, like “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” and “Jingle Bells.”

“All the first graders went caroling around inside the building, because we never know what the weather is going to be like,” teacher Jenny Rowland said Wednesday, the final day of school before winter break.

By coincidence, the weather outside was slightly frightful, with a snowfall that blanketed the roads.

She called the caroling “a nice way to end the last day of school.”

After singing a few songs to each grade level, the teachers ushered the group to the next classrooms, trying to keep quiet so they could surprise them. It didn’t often work.

Different grade levels would opt to sing along with the first graders or sing a song back to the group when they were done. Principal Kyra Aizstrauts pretended to conduct the choir when they visited the front office.

When the caroling was over, the kids were shuffled back to their classrooms, where they were allowed to leave for winter break soon afterward.

Contact staff writer Reba Lean at 459-7523.