Band, chorus, orchestra—Simpson Middle School does it all.
Despite being three separate classes and performing ensembles, the Simpson Music Department is one big family, and they collaborate whenever possible. Recently, that collaboration took the form of a group trip altogether from their home in Marietta, Georgia to Orlando for a few days of fun and performances.
We asked the three music leaders—Kirstin Cagle leading chorus, Valerie Page leading band, and Dana Tindall leading orchestra—about how the trip went and what they experienced.
How did this trip, with all the music groups together, come about?
This trip has been a tradition in our program for many years. It is a trip for our 8th graders as a reward for their 3 years of dedication to our music classes. COVID of course had an effect on our travel, but our trip has remained consistent for the most part. In recent years, we have been experimenting with Universal Studios instead of, or in combination with Disney World.
Can you give us an idea of what the trip looked like?
We were able to get approximately 2 days in the parks. We participated in clinic/workshops at the Dr. Phillips center for the Performing Arts and also were given a tour of their facilities, which was really fascinating. Each of our separate ensembles participated simultaneously in workshops of their own area with local clinicians. We thoroughly enjoyed this and were able to gain musical insights about our musicianship skills.
Were there any highlights of the trip?
We were thoroughly impressed with the music workshop we participated in at Dr. Phillips Center and are very grateful to Mark Drury for facilitating this for us. The process of getting to and from the workshop was incredibly smooth and their staff was welcoming, helpful, and knowledgeable.
Any challenges you had to overcome?
Our trip was very smooth, however, one small issue we encountered was restaurants in Universal Studios not accepting our pre-paid meal cards. This resulted in groups of students being late for check-in and/or having to pay for their food.
How did Super Holiday help with this trip?
Working with Super Holiday continues to be a stress-free, convenient, and positive experience. Their website is very user-friendly and takes an enormous amount of work of the trip organizers and our local school bookkeeper. Mark Drury, our representative, is incredibly knowledgeable, friendly, and helpful in the process of planning and executing the trip. He has become a part of our music family and we always enjoy working with him.
Photos Courtesy of Mark Drury.