As spring begins to beckon students to outdoor activities, the freshmen in Greg Stobbe’s English classes stay indoors for a 20-minute musical parade. The purpose is to sing the praises of author George Orwell’s Animal Farm and its “Beasts of England” national anthem.

The novella, first published in 1945, explores the ramifications of communism through an allegory involving the animals at a British farm.

As in past years, Stobbe has practiced with both regular English I students and their honors counterparts for three weeks before choosing the most vocal and animated class. While the honors class has only lost once time before, this year the regular English I students trumped their peers with costumes and strong vocals and sang the tune to campus classes.

With a cry for unity, the freshmen regulars bleat, yowl, whinny, yap, oink and quack their way through the hallways of the junior high and high school classrooms, April 18.

The students, who are transformed into farm animals singing their song of rebellion, belt out the song which follows the tune of Clementine but whose lyrics tell of the glory of a new ideal.

While Stobbe has been parading freshmen through the campus hallways since 2000, the 2011 video of ‘Beasts of England’ (VIDEO) is the first time the youngsters were filmed during the event.

For more insight and looks into past and present photos, check out Beasts of FC, Here they come, Student wildlife , Parade of beasts, Beast-like students protest in office.