Mayor joins Mill Springs’ students for arts appreciation.

Mill Springs Academy Headmaster Robert Moore joins students in a drum roll.

Milton Mayor Joe Lockwood recently joined Mill Springs Academy’s annual “National Anthem Day,” which celebrates the anniversary of the song’s creation by poet Francis Scott Key and shows support for music and arts education in schools.

While at the school, Lockwood spoke to students about the importance of fine arts education in a school’s curriculum.

“I challenge each and every one of you to be as creative as possible,” he said. “This is the privilege you have being taught art, being taught true freedom, in school. Take advantage of it.”

As part of the festivities, chorus teacher Kate McElliott and band director Elizabeth Plastiak led 300 students in performing Key’s “Star-Spangled Banner.”