Every other year the De Soto High School band goes on a trip during Spring Break. During March of 2015, the band voted on the trip destination and came to the conclusion of Florida.

This year’s trip will take place on the 10-16 of March 2016. The band will be traveling by bus for their commute to Florida.

The band participated in a variety of fundraisers to make the trip as affordable as possible so that everyone who wants to attend the trip has the opportunity.

“There is a ton of fundraising that the band is doing. The trip is so expensive because of tickets for Disney Parks. We do the amount of fundraising to help the students pay for that so if they don’t have the money, they can still go,” band director Matt Bradford said.

A few of the fundraisers held were Cherrydale, a golf tournament and Butterbraid. For the Cherrydale and Butterbraid fundraisers, band members sell baked goods.

All fundraisers are optional, but the band members are reminded that the more they participate, the more they benefit.

While the band is in Florida, they will be visiting various Disney parks along with performing for crowds at a venue that is still to be determined.

“We have two performances scheduled at one of the Disney parks. We don’t know which one, just the date [of the performance.] It will be at either the Epcot Center or Disney World,” Bradford said.

When voting for the trip, there were many options the band was given to vote on, making it a tough decision to choose. Many band members like sophomore Ben Pickert did not vote for Florida, even though it was the most popular choice.

“I voted for Washington D.C. just because I like the Smithsonian. Though my second option was definitely Disney World,” Pickert said.

Along with staff and the band itself, there will be chaperones to accompany the band. The chaperones will be parents that volunteered and were chosen based on different reasons including seniority, service to the band and special skills.

Students in the band and their families both are very excited and counting down the days until the trip arrives.