FOUNTAIN SPRINGS - A group of North Schuylkill students headed to Florida on Thursday to sing in the sun for crowds at Walt Disney World.
There are 35 members of the North Schuylkill Treble Makers Chorus who will perform today during their six-day trip to Orlando, led by North Schuylkill general music teacher and choral director Brandi Kline.
The group will perform as part of the Disney Performing Arts OnStage youth program: vocal. There are also OnStage opportunities for candlelight procession, instrumental and dance.
Planning for the trip took two years, mainly to raise money to offset costs as much as possible. The trip was approved by the school board at its November 2012 meeting at no cost to the school district.
Kline was music teacher at the elementary level for 12 years, coming to the high school three years ago.
"When I came over to the high school to teach, I knew I wanted to take these kids to Disney to perform," Kline said, sitting in the auditorium with chorus members Sarah Barket, senior, and Liam Wolfe, sophomore, both of whom went to Disney.
"I had the idea three years ago, and it was two years ago we started fundraising and planning," Kline said. "We submitted a performance DVD to Disney and they accepted it. They gave us the ultimate time, which is 5:15 on a Saturday night, so they really liked our DVD. We'll perform at the waterfront in Downtown Disney. It's called the Waterfront Show."
This is the first trip and performance by the chorus at Disney, but Kline performed there when she was in high school.
"Our band has done it, and when I was in high school, I went with my marching band and it was one of my greatest musical experiences, and I wanted the kids to have that," Kline said.
The cost per student is $820, with fundraising offsetting some of the expense.
"We had a lot of fundraisers," Barket said. "Our best one was selling Costas candies. We sold about a thousand boxes of chocolates. We sold flowers on holidays. We sold fudge from C&C Candies."
"This is my second year in the chorus, and right as I got into the chorus they started talking about the Disney trip," Wolfe said. "I thought it would be a great trip."
"I started in seventh grade, and this is my third year with Mrs. Kline," Barket said.
Wolfe said that arts programs, such as the chorus, provide so many opportunities.
"The opportunities that the arts offer cannot be compared to sports or any other thing in school," Wolfe said. "It helps you find out who you are and try out new things, like going to Disney. Just great experiences."
"This is my first time in Disney," Barket said. " ... this is such a great opportunity."
"Liam is also an athlete," Kline said. "He plays soccer."
"I may try out for baseball this year," Wolfe said.
Barket, who plays piano, said there are so many opportunities in the school to become involved in.
"It's such a great opportunity to go and do multiple things, to get a taste of everything and have the experience when you go to college, so you can narrow what you want to do or you can broaden your horizons even more. It's a great thing to have that."
Kline said there are 35 of the 98 members of the chorus going to Disney. With chaperones, the total number taking the trip is 46.
"Anybody could have gone from the chorus," Kline said. "We didn't narrow it down. It was up to them. Maybe if we can go again, some others will decide to go."
Kline said the chorus keeps busy throughout the school year.
"We do a couple of concerts a year, and we sing on Veterans Day and Memorial Day," Kline said. "We go to Hershey Park, where we also have to audition. We perform there at Christmas time. And it's free. We just have to pay for the buses. We sing Christmas carols at the nursing homes. The kids get such a great experience when you see the tears in their (residents) eyes as you're singing to them. That is something that you cannot teach children - that compassion you feel when you go to nursing homes. I would never want to stop doing that because I think it's important for the kids. Yes, the older people want them to come, but I think it's just as important for the kids to go. I try to get these kids everywhere."
The music will be upbeat at the specific request from Disney.
"One of my personal goals with these kids is to build their confidence," Kline said. "You need to be confident to be successful."