Wednesday, July 3, 2024
Members of the Gatesville High School band perform during a community pep rally on Aug. 20. If all goes according to plan, several band members will have a chance to perform in Central Florida.
Lingering COVID-19 complications caused plans for a trip to Disney World to fizzle out for the 2021-22 schools year, but a trip to the Magic Kingdom and other parts of Central Florida are back on the agenda for the Gatesville High School Band.
Jose Sanchez, director of fine arts for the Gatesville Independent School District and also director of the GHS band program, recently asked members of the GISD Board of Trustees for their blessing in making the trip to the iconic Florida destination in 2023.
Because of shakeups throughout the travel industry caused by the pandemic, Sanchez said there were too many uncertainties to proceed with the trip during the previous school year. However, as society learns how to cope more effectively with continued COVID issues, the travel and tour industry is beginning to stabilize, and Sanchez said that he hopes to take about 100 GHS band students – as well as other parents and chaperones – to Disney World at the end of the school year.
One of the things which companies would not guarantee last year included a refund of money if a student became ill before the trip, and that was something he refused to risk.
He noted that several band members have already saved money for the trip, and that additional fundraising opportunities, such as coffee and mattress sales, will be held during the school year. Sanchez said the mattress fundraiser “brought in $10,000” the last time the GHS band program participated in the event.
Cost of the trip for students is expected to be about $900 based on four students to a room “before any contributions by band boosters,” Sanchez said, adding that the cost for students could be reduced to about $750 each, including the cost of transportation.
The trip will be made via charter buses, and an exact itinerary will be determined at a later date.
