The culmination of five weeks of learning, experimenting, and thinking globally came to a theatrical end with performances from students at the summer CARE program on Aug. 4.

The school’s CARE program - Community, Academic, Recreation, Engagement - is organized by the Office of Beyond School Time, a main department of the school system in Wareham. During the year, it hosts before and after-school programs for 32 weeks and the “Weekend Food Backpack Program,” which gives backpacks filled with food for the weekend to at-risk students.

“Our focus is on what we can do as a community as well as thinking globally,” said Jane Fondulis, one of the directors at the Office of Beyond School Time.

The CARE Fair celebrated these lessons with performances. ”We Are The World,” a charity song created in the 1980s to raise funds for Africans, was the closing song of the day. It was a reminder of the lessons the children learned throughout the summer.

It was also Pat Gagnon’s favorite part. A coordinator for the CARE program during the school year at Wareham Middle School, Gagnon said the CARE Fair was a “fantastic success” this year and that event had “a wonderful turnout.”

Located at the middle school, it celebrated the accomplishments of the children during their five weeks in the program. The event began with food, face painting, games and crafts outside of the school followed by lunch.

Musical performances of “We Got the Whole World in Our Hands,” “Consider Yourself” from the movie Oliver Twist, and “Ease On Down The Road” were the openers.

Sixth-grader Angel Serrano had his own solo in the Oliver Twist skit. He said the class learned the song by watching the movie, and that he learned about “how the children were poor.”

Serrano chose to participate in musical theater, one of the programs offered at the CARE summer program, which met twice a week.

In addition to the closing song which celebrated the children of the world, students put on a skit based on an African story called “Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears.” Dressed as animals from the jungle, students illustrated the relationship of cause and effect.

Chinese exchange students put on performances such as Tai Chi demonstrations and traditional dances for the CARE students.

The program is funded with a 21st Century Community Learning Center Grant awarded federally. It encourages and requires hands-on, project-based service learning focused on science, technology, engineering, arts and music.