2012 Marching Band Trip

The Shawnee Mission Northwest Marching Cougar Pride marching band has traditionally traveled every three years. We are in the process of planning the next trip and we want to provide you some of the initials details. This is a lengthy email, but please read all the way through so you have as much information as possible. This information is also attached in PDF format in case you'd prefer to print it.

Please know that some of these details might change slightly, but the overall plans are essentially in place:

The destination of the 2012 band trip will be Orlando, FL. We will be leaving on Thursday, December 27, 2012, and returning on Tuesday, January 1, 2013. Per the SMSD calendar, school resumes on January 3. We’ll spend four days in Orlando with about a half-day of travel each way. Our itinerary includes:

Citrus Bowl Parade (½ day)
Universal Studios (full day)
Disney Animal Kingdom (½ day)
Epcot (½ day)
Kennedy Space Center/Cocoa Beach (full day)
Disney World Magic Kingdom/Main Street parade (full day)

As you can see, we plan to march twice, once in the Orlando Citrus Parade and once in the Disney World Main Street parade. We hope this will be the evening Electrical Parade. Our final schedule will be determined by the date of the 2012 Citrus Parade, which has not yet been announced, but we’ve selected dates that will allow us to adjust our itinerary accordingly. We are tentatively planning to travel with 120 students, staff, and chaperones.

Our goal in announcing the trip information this early is to allow families time to make a decision about whether their student will participate and what sort of payments make the trip most feasible. Based on required payments by the trip company, and the need to pay for airfare no later than mid-May, payments for current marchers will be due:

$200 – January 30 Initial deposit
$400 – April 15 No less than $600 paid to date
$400 – July 1 No less than $1000 paid to date
$400 – October 1 No less than $1400 paid to date
Balance – October 31 All students paid in full

Please note that the “paid to date” amounts included in the payment schedule are critical to our covering our trip payments. In the event that any family/student falls behind in this payment schedule, there is a risk that the student may be removed from the trip and any payments made on behalf of the student could be forfeited. If families encounter difficulties in meeting this payment schedule, they are asked to contact the trip treasurer as early as possible to forestall this possibility.

Incoming Freshmen
For incoming freshmen, marching band auditions will take place shortly after spring break. To ensure that current 8th grade band students and their families are aware of this trip, we’ll do some directed emails and address this at the SMNW 8th grade orientation evening. Payments for incoming freshmen will be due:

$300 – April 15 No less than $300 paid to date
$300 – June 1 No less than $600 paid to date
$400 – July 1 No less than $1000 paid to date
$400 – October 1 No less than $1400 paid to date
Balance – October 31 All students paid in full

If you know of students that will attend SMNW that are not currently attending Trailridge, please forward their contact information to any trip committee member. We’ll make sure we provide as much information as possible to the students and their families.

Forms
8th Grade Trip Flier
2012 Trip Commitment Form
2012 Chaperone Form
Trip Details (updated January 10, 2012)
Student Travel Insurance

Questions and Answers
When this was presented at the November 8 Band Boosters meeting, there were several questions asked. These questions and their answers, along with other possible questions, may be viewed by clicking here. If you need more information, please any trip committee member.

2012 Band Trip Committee
Christine Tarne, Committee Chair
Debbie Kelly, Trip Treasurer
Bruce Bienhoff
Robin Moss
Patti Payne
Michelle Wilson