I had a once in a lifetime opportunity to SING THE NATIONAL ANTHEM at a RED SOX GAME with 240 of my fellow students, a performance that set a record for largest group performance at Fenway Park.

At that moment, as 240 kids ran out onto the field waving at parents in the bleachers above and the crowd roaring in support, I felt a sensational feeling that filled me with pure adrenaline.

Our singing was not the best due to the fact that half of the students did not realize that our teacher had started conducting, leaving us disorientated and mixed up. However, we managed to finish the anthem and was responded with deafening applause as we walked off the neatly cut field, the perfect lines now forgotten as we merged into a giant crowd of students.

Even now, I can remember the excitement I felt throughout the 5 minutes that had passed by in a flash, a experience much to short for the months of preparation put into it. This is because from the moment of when we received the news of this event, we were over-joyed but knew that tons of work would have to be done in order to make this event happen.

However, at first my question was “how did this come to be?” Later, I got my answer from our chorus teacher, Sara Carson, who had sent a video of her students singing the national anthem about 2 years ago. Mrs. Carson and her family are long time Red Sox fans according to the Belmont Voice and said “she sees the opportunity for members of the school community to bring together their athletic and musical selves.”

Now, after 2 long years, the Red Sox committee finally responded, inviting 240 Belmont Elementary students to sing at Fenway Park on the game scheduled for May 24, 2025.

Mrs. Carson informed us about this event 4 months before the game, resulting in many organized rehearsals every Wednesday. We would gather in the auditorium to discuss before being led outside in groups by height order.

As we would sing, people from neighborhoods or people walking by would stop, look, and listen. Grabbing their phones from their pockets, they took videos, all while watching in amazement. Cars passing nearby stopped as well and watched us, some even choosing to join.

On the other hand, a few people just stared at us as if asking ‘why are there so many kids singing the National Anthem?’

After we had finished, we were greeted with applause coming even from audience located in unexpected places and as we went over what we should work on to get better, people cheered us on as they left us to practice freely.

Teachers reminded us on the way back that having a audience was a good experience that would only await the real game where we would sing in front of over 30,000 people.

On the day of the Red Sox game against the Baltimore Orioles, families were in a chaos as due to heavy rain the previous day, the schedule and time of the game had been totally changed and became a double-header. After arriving, teachers organized into our height groups before led backstage to where the players usually come out of.

Once we settled in after observing our surroundings, we continued whispering in hushed voices about the things we were seeing and experiencing. The extra baseball equipment, the tall spiral staircase, even the occasional water dripping from the vents above us.

After we sang, teachers brought us to our parents to watch the rest of the game, but as we watched the game the one thing I could remember was the thrill I had felt, uniting together with other students. My feelings were aligned with my fellow students, stated by a sixth-grader named Patrick Murphy, “This is an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, getting to do this in sixth, fifth, and fourth grade-it’s just very special.”