Imagine an elementary age childrens’ choir on stage before an auditorium full of people. The conductor raises her hands, silence drifts across the room and then the children sing. But what’s this? It’s in Latin, and they’re singing at the Missouri Music Educator’s Association convention.

“I think it’s pretty cool,” Platte County R-3 student Hunter Alt, 10, said. “We earned this last year (in 2011), because of all the fifth graders. They helped us earn that.”

The Paxton Singers will be going on stage at the convention around 1:15 p.m. Jan. 27 at the Tan-Tar-A resort in Osage Beach to perform in front of nearly 1,000 music educators from around the state.

But getting there was not a cake walk.

“We had to send a recording in last year,” R-3 Music Director Jennifer Stammers said. “It was a good opportunity. They received 142 recordings from around the state. Only 30 groups were selected to go.”

But, Stammers pointed out, that was not the most amazing part.

For the full story, read the Jan. 18 edition of The Platte County Citizen.