The Star Spangled Banner

     A few years ago my good friend and Hickory Hill's former music teacher, Ms. Palatas, began a special tradition at Hickory Hill.  Every Friday morning our school would sing America's National Anthem - The Star Spangled Banner.  Being as I am an extremely patriotic gal, it always brought a tear to my eye to hear our entire school population (adults too) singing with pride and honoring the great nation in which we live. 
     One of the biggest downfalls (in my opinion) to our new schedule is that we do not get the chance to meet each day as a school community in the gym.  That means no Star Spangled Banner.  Or does it??
     Flash forward to the second Friday morning of school in TEAM Heath's hideway...  We stood to say the Pledge of Allegiance, as we do each day, when one of our teammates exclaimed...(I forgave the child for blurting out this ONE time!!) Why can't we sing the Star Spangled Banner on Fridays like we did last year? Well, why not indeed?  I don't claim to be a world class singer, but I could lead them in a song.  So we did.  And you know what?  It sounded great! 
    Ok, we probably won't win American Idol or The Voice. And whiel I typically sing with them each week, you'll notice my voice is noticeably absent from the video- I even edited out where I gave them their starting note. You might even notice that the ending gets a bit sketchy--but the important part here is that I have 21, 7 year-olds who are singing The Star Spangled Banner acapella, every Friday morning, because THEY WANTED TO!  How absolutely amazing is that?  So thank you Ms. Palatas for helping me instill patriotic pride in my little friends and thank you to the teammate who was brave enough to ask us to continue this great tradition.
    Please listen to this heartfelt song as we take a moment to remember those who gave their all on September 11, 2001.  We truly do live in the land of the free and home of the brave and I'm so grateful for my teammates who celebrate that each and every day. 

God Bless America!!