Four years ago, Brooklyn Bethmann got to see her older sister, Skylar, perform the National Anthem with her Montgomery County R-II elementary classmates at the right-field corner during a St. Louis Cardinals game at Busch Stadium.

At 6:28 p.m. on June 28, Brooklyn got her one minute of fame. She was one of 35 R-II elementary students who sang the National Anthem at the backstop of Busch Stadium before the Cardinals’ game against the Miami Marlins.

“It was fun,” Brooklyn said.

All of the students are fourth and fifth-graders from Jonesburg and Montgomery City elementary schools. They were supervised by music teacher Bailey Mabry and Jessica Davis, an art teacher at MCE.

“They did a great job,” Mabry said. “They worked really hard. Fredbird (the St. Louis Cardinals’ mascot) came down to play a couple of games with them, which was really fun. So they had a great time.”

Mabry said she enjoyed the experience of going on the baseball field and seeing her students sing. She got a chance to dance with Fredbird before the performance.

“It’s a great experience for the kids and they loved it,” Mabry said. “It’s such a great way to get them out and have them do something fun, sing and share their voices.”

The last time R-II elementary students performed the National Anthem at a Cardinals game was in 2019. They didn’t perform the last two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mabry said any school that is interested in having students sing the National Anthem has to simply contact the Cardinals.

“You just sign up,” said Mabry, who is the music teacher for both Jonesburg and Montgomery City elementary schools. “When there are openings, they’ll call you. The longer you’re on the list, the more seniority you’ll get. So we’ve been doing it for several years now.”

The students arrived at Busch Stadium an hour before game time. They joined a group of students from Sullivan Elementary School, who performed “God Bless America” on the field.

Paislee Clark, who will be a sixth-grader at Montgomery County Middle School next fall, said when it was time to perform “The Star-Spangled Banner,” she started showing signs of jitters.

“My heart was beating really fast,” she said. “I was scared. Everybody was looking at me.”

Ben Cobb, a fifth-grader from Jonesburg Elementary, said he was amazed when he got to walk through a major league ballpark.

“It was pretty cool,” he said. “I got to see a bunch of Cardinals players and I got to walk by the dugout.”

Myles Wilson, who is also a fifth-grader at JBE and plays baseball at a youth league in Jonesburg, said he was ecstatic when he got to sing in front of a big crowd.

“I said to Ben that imagine we played a baseball game here,” he said.

Most of the students sat at the right field box seats in sections 128 and 129. Bentley Reckamp, who will be in fifth grade next year, said he was thrilled to not only sing the National Anthem, but to go to his first Cardinals game this year.

“It was very exciting,” he said.

The trip to St. Louis ended on a good note for the students as the Cardinals came back from a 3-0 deficit to beat the Marlins 5-3. Isabella Vicente, who will be in fifth grade at JBE next year, said she enjoyed her visit to Busch Stadium.

“I would definitely do it again,” she said. “You’ll get really close to the players and you’ll get closer to the baseballs and stuff. Even though you will not be in the front row, you will be close to the field and nobody really gets to do that. It’s a really good experience that most people don’t get to do.”