Elementary school kids at Francis Parker School in Mission Hills are teaching grown-ups a thing or two about the country's national anthem. KPBS Reporter Ana Tintocalis has more.
Students singing: Oh, say can you see… A group of kids stand at attention in red, white and blue as they sing the Star Spangled Banner. A recent survey found two out of three Americans do not know the words to the national anthem. But for the past few weeks, Francis Parker students have been studying the lyrics of the song -- and learning about the historical events that led up to the creation of the song.
Ten-year-old Hadley DeBello says her favorite part of the anthem is:
DeBello: ‘Oh, say does that star spangled banner yet wave’ because it really reminds us, against all odds, we did beat them and that's why we're here today.
Tintocalis: Who did we beat?
DeBello: We beat the British. We weren't as big and we didn’t have as much power. But we tried our best and we made it!
All of the students studying culminated today with a school performance. The program is part of the National Anthem Project organized by the National Association for Music Education. Ana Tintocalis, KPBS News.
