AUBURN – The Auburn Elementary Chorus delivered a rousing rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” on Thursday evening as the young singers marked Flag Day and their participation in the National Anthem Project at Festival Plaza.

Proud parents and grandparents comprised most of the audience that cheered the performance by about 40 students from grades four, five and six at several Auburn schools.

In addition to the musical program, several students offered some “Did you know?” information about the national anthem and the American flag.

The program included several songs showcasing the students’ ability with different styles of American music such as jazz, spiritual, folk and contemporary. Among those numbers were “Turkey in the Straw” and “Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen.”

The students ended the program with a sing-a-long of well-known patriotic songs such as “America,” “America the Beautiful” and “You’re a Grand Old Flag.”

In opening remarks, Auburn Mayor John Jenkins said, “This didn’t happen because of anything we did at City Hall. It happened because we have compassionate teachers and loving parents.”

Jenkins told the Festival Plaza audience, “We are here to celebrate our nation’s symbol, we’re here to celebrate that Auburn is the only city in Maine to receive the ‘All-Star City’ designation, and we’re here to celebrate our local heroes” in military service.

Barbara Eretzian, who recently retired as Auburn’s superintendent of schools, told the young singers, “Wow, you are really good. These kids are doing a really phenomenal job with this.”

The objective of the project is to raise awareness about the national anthem and to encourage more people to learn its lyrics. The youngsters have been rehearsing regularly through the year. The project gained wide recognition in early May when Auburn became the only Maine community to earn the “All-Star City” designation by the National Anthem Project and first lady Laura Bush. The chorus members all wore white T-shirts with “All-Star City” lettering in red.

Mike Davis, music instructor at Sherwood Heights Elementary School, said, “All of the elementary schools in Auburn have been involved in this project.”

He added, “The kids have performed at Lewiston Maineiacs and Portland Sea Dogs games and other community events to spread the word about the national anthem and promoting music in our schools.”

Auburn’s elementary school music teachers who took turns leading the singers at Thursday’s concert were Joan Hamann, who is music instructor at Washburn and Walton, and Brian Gagnon, Fairview music instructor.

Unable to attend Thursday was Jim Raymond, who teaches at Park Avenue and East Auburn elementary schools.

Gagnon spearheaded the project with the assistance of the other Auburn music teachers.

In all, about 200 kids have been involved in the local national anthem project, Davis said.

“We hope to continue our presence in the community in the coming year,” he explained.