While most of the student body endured the single-digit temperatures during February, the marching band spent an extended weekend experiencing Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida.

The band made the almost 14 hour trip by bus. Band members slept on the bus in order to make it to Orlando for their first event, the Blue Man Group.

Watching the performance from the Blue Man Group was a great start to the trip for freshman Jordan Osborne.

“We went to the Blue Man Group, which [is] a bunch of guys [who] painted their heads blue and their hands, and they use percussion instruments to do their entire show…” said Osborne. “They were really good.”

The band started their Universal experience with a workshop with studio musicians. After preparing their piece ahead of time, the band recorded it for the soundtrack to a black and white, silent movie.

Junior Joe Spear enjoyed the experience of the workshop.

“We had gotten the piece that we were going to play before, so we had practiced before hand, but once we got there, it was very interesting because we got to create our own sound effects, and the piece that we composed we got to put into the video production classes,” said Spear.

Following the workshop, the band remained in Universal to perform in a parade. They played “On Top of the World” by Imagine Dragons and marched throughout the entire park.

Band director Chris Poole accompanied the marching band on their trip.

“It was just our band marching around the entire park, which was great,” said Poole. “Tons of people were listening, clapping, dancing, marching with us. It was pretty cool.”

Many of the band members enjoyed the environment during the parade.

“My favorite part was probably the parade because we just got to march through the whole Universal Studios, and it was cool to see everyone watching us and videotaping,” said Spear.

The Florida trip is done every two years with the goal being to expose students to the applications of music as a career in the world. The trip typically includes a workshop along with a performance. Two years ago, the band spent their time in the Disney parks.

Poole believes the trips to Florida over the years benefits the kids by giving them exposure and opportunity.

“The purpose was to bring our music to a broader audience, one of our philosophies for the entire band, to represent the school district on a larger scale, and then it helped to gain some new experiences and meet some people in the music industry where we could really kind of learn things that we are not exposed to on a daily basis,” said Poole.

After recording and performing, the band spent several days experiencing the parks of Universal Studios. The memories and experiences that the marching band shared in Orlando will be ones that they will never forget.