Abington High School band, chorus and marching band recently took a field trip to Williamsburg, Virginia. They participated in various activities including a musical workshop at The College of William and Mary, a ghost tour through Yorktown, leisure time in Colonial Williamsburg, and of course, Busch Gardens.
For the music workshop, the band and chorus went to The College of William and Mary where they played for the conductors who then helped the students tweak areas of the pieces, giving students hints to make their playing better.
Participant Jen Manning stated, “I liked the music workshop. I think it was really helpful for everyone and it really helped me a lot with my part in Caravan.”
Another participant, Steve Akins, said, “To me the workshop was super helpful and I think it helped the band to better understand crescendos and decrescendos, which really just makes the music a whole lot better and way more dramatic.”
After the students had finished the music workshop, they were allotted three hours of leisure time to explore Colonial Williamsburg. While in Williamsburg students could see what a typical day was like during the colonial times. They participated in a reenactment of the reading of the Declaration of Independence, or toured through colonial homes and shops to gain a greater knowledge of the types of work during that time period and the typical wages. There were also tours through the Capitol where students were able to see the way the justice system worked in the 1700’s.
“I liked the silversmith’s shop because I thought it was neat how the people in colonial times would sort of buy silver and have it made into silverware and other silver products as an investment of their money,” commented junior James Rota.
Later that night the students boarded a bus and headed for Yorktown to participate in a ghost tour. While on the ghost tour the guide stopped at several houses and caves and told stories of the ghosts’ grueling pasts and tortured souls that still haunt today.
Freshman Mike Crawford reacted by stating, “I thought the ghost tour was pretty cool. I wish it was a little scarier and that we actually got to go into the houses, but overall I liked it and I thought the stories were pretty awesome.”
The next day, students headed for a great day at Busch Gardens, where they were able to do an assortment of activities like riding roller coasters, hanging out with their friends, going to shows, or just kicking back and enjoying their last day in Virginia.
Regarding Busch Gardens, Donna Creighton said that she felt, “It was a great way to end the trip because I think that everyone had a pretty good time to begin with and I think that Busch Gardens just topped it all off.”
If you are considering joining band, chorus or marching band, you should consider coming on the trip. It is a blast!