CA middle school students to perform at 2012 Olympics

UNDATED (WHDH) -- California middle schoolers are heading to the London to perform during the Opening Ceremonies of the 2012 Olympic Games.

The kids from the Mark Twain Middle School Bellringers are not only going, but they are performing there as part of a nationwide bellringing extravaganza to open the games.

"It’s going to be a great experience. It’s life changing," one student said.

And they will be among the youngest of the very old musical tradition that was born in England, and they have infused their youth and style into their performance. Now, their bellringing includes percussion, guitar and pop songs.

"When we bring out the guitars and singing, everybody's amazed. Their faces like are shocked," another student said.

"I’m the one who's supposed to coach them in that direction. And they know what they want to sound like, they know what they want to look like, and they want to know how they personally feel about it. And they have never been wrong. They have never been wrong,” said Ron Theile, Bellringers Director.

And one more thing that sets Mark Twain apart: bellringers don't usually get this kind of reaction from their audiences, but these guys do. And that may be at least in part how they were able to raise the money needed to make this trip of a lifetime.

"I’m excited. We all are. We can't wait. It’s going to be fun," a student said.