On Friday, September 11, St. Boniface Elementary School will participate in the American Public Education Foundation’s (APEF) annual singing of the National Anthem.
According to music instructor Rachel Becker, the students will present a 30 minute program on the Star-Spangled Banner at the Elgin Community Center beginning at 12:15 p.m. that day. The public is invited to attend.
On that day, students are being asked to join together and simultaneously sing the National Anthem. That request is being made by the APEF which will provide free, educational resources on the words, meaning and history of the National Anthem.
The National Anthem movement began two years ago and asks students to unite and sing together. There are numerous events taking place around the country.
“Getting students involved in learning the words and meaning of our nation’s anthem, as well as uniting as a country on 9/11 is powerful,” says Mia Toschi, Founder of the National Anthem Movement and APEF National Director of Strategic Partnerships. “When students come together to celebrate citizenship, everyone wins.”
Students, parents and teachers can learn more about the National Anthem movement by logging onto www.theapef.org. A rich and full curriculum, created by Retired Principal Maria Basilko Davis, MEd will provide lessons for Social Studies, Geography, History, Music and English teachers. Mrs. Davis’s school, Duncan Elementary, located on Fort Hood, Texas, received recognition both as a Texas School of Character and as a National School of Character. She called it a “personal honor” to create these materials.”
President of the American Public Education Foundation David Pickler adds, “It is with great pride that the American Public Education Foundation will provide these materials to every school in the United States for free. It will be incredible to see students – coast to coast – join together in unity.”
The Star-Spangled Banner” is a poem written in 1814 by Francis Scott Key as he watched British ships bombard Fort McHenry, Maryland, during the War of 1812. The song became the National Anthem by an act of Congress in 1931. Although it has four stanzas, the most commonly sung stanza is the first one.
Educators are encouraged to go to the website, www.theapef.org to download free resources and also sign up to sing. This year’s event concludes a year-long celebration commemorating the 200th birthday of the National Anthem and the foundation hopes to break the Guinness Book of World Records simultaneous sing-a-long of the National Anthem. If the record is broken, an announcement will be made on September 14, 2015 – the birthday of the National Anthem.
