At the end of the school day on Wednesday, 11 students filed into Nancy Milliron’s music room at Juniper Elementary in Bend. While other kids climbed onto buses and headed for home, the fifth-graders piled onto the risers and started singing.

They carefully removed their music from big white envelopes, then listened as Milliron gave them pointers.

“Those are syncopated notes,” she chided the students, and then, when students drew out an “s” sound for too long: “Watch the hissing.”

The students are participating in the Oregon All-State Elementary Honor Choir, a two-day event put on by the Oregon Music Educators Association this weekend. All schools are eligible to participate, but Juniper is the only representative from Central Oregon.

Milliron said this is the third year Juniper students have participated in the statewide event, which brings top fifth-grade singers from around the state to sing together. But getting into the choir wasn’t easy.

Students had to audition for their spots.

“I got to pick,” Milliron said. “I based it not just on their ability but also on their behavior, how they would do on a trip out of town.”

The opportunity was open to every Juniper fifth-grader, and Milliron said she was surprised by the talent of some of the students who wanted to participate.

“I only see these kids for a half hour twice a week,” Milliron said. “I don’t have a chance to hear them individually very often.”

On Thursday, students traveled to Eugene for the program, and today they will join other Oregon students as they practice as a large group from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Juniper students are among 200 fifth-graders who will participate in the concert.

This morning, the students will perform five songs they’ve been practicing over the past two months, including a piece called “This Shall Be For Music” and another called “Dreamkeeper.”

Since before the winter break, the 11 fifth-graders have met to practice after school on Wednesdays, and during lunch and recess on Fridays.

The participants received five pieces of music and a CD to practice at home.

“It was their job to learn the music,” Milliron said. “They’ve really stepped up.”

And the music isn’t easy. There are parts, key changes and other challenges.

“You really have to listen,” Milliron said. “These are not songs I would choose to sing with the choir (at Juniper).”

Danna Torres, 11, said it’s been hard work.

“Just getting ready and singing in front of everyone,” she said. “We’ve had to practice and memorize the songs. And there will be a lot of songs and a lot of other kids.”

But all agree the hard work has been worth it to learn such difficult music.

“I like music, and singing makes me feel good,” Logan Johnson, 11, said. “I can express myself in other ways than just talking.”

For the most part, everyone agreed: the hardest song was called “Shady Grove,” though Shannon Moyer, 10, said she didn’t mind it.

“That’s because it’s your favorite so it’s not hard to you,” Haley Joyner, 10, said. “You’ve got it memorized.”

Carissa Boyer, 10, has another reason to be excited. The practice day is also her 11th birthday.

“The whole choir can sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to you,” Danna said.

Besides singing, there are a few other perks.

“We get to skip a day of school,” Shannon said. “And go swimming and stay in a hotel.”

On Wednesday the students moved through two of the five songs they’d be performing with the state choir. Milliron told them they sounded great, and urged them to take some chances with the songs.

“Be bold, be strong,” Milliron told the choir as they worked their way through another difficult song, “When I Close My Eyes.” “And mistakes are totally acceptable.”

That’s the kind of advice students like Victoria Desenberg, 10, like to hear. Singing, she said, makes her feel good.

“It makes me feel just happy and good,” Victoria said. “I push everything aside, and I’m not being judged all the time.”