We Did it Together (One chaperone's story about the Florida trip)
We imagine trips with high school students never go without a few glitches here and there, and this one certainly had its twists and turns, ending on such a positive note, the story just has to be shared.
Hats-off to the brave Band Director, who took 38 JDHS Festival Band students to the Orlando Heritage Music Festival over spring break. He couldnt have done it without the support of nine parent chaperones and his wife, and, most of all, a standing ovation for the Band students who faced illness, changed plans and shortened entertainment time. They adapted as necessary, behaving as young professionals and responsible adults, like every parent hopes their children will do in adverse situations. The students pulled-off some of their best musical performances, bringing home a gold rating for technique and musicality and the festival trophy for outstanding band at the 2003 Festival.
It all started within 16 hours of arriving in Orlando, the first two student musicians became ill during the Wednesday afternoon workshop with the Disney musicians. Just the heat and humidity; Juneau kids arent used to this. Drink lots of water and wear sunscreen, we said, but their condition was severe enough to require a trip to the ER to re-hydrate. While they were being cared for in the ER, the next wave of illness hit and before the night was over, 15 kids and chaperones would be stricken with the nausea and vomiting, including a second trip to the ER for stitches in the chin, the result of passing-out while being ill. That longest night included midnight tours of downtown Orlando in search of 24-hour pharmacies and closer ERs, cell phone conversations and messages to coordinate, calls back to Alaska to report to parents and calls to epidemiologists in search of advice and answers.
Back at the hotel, the 13 rooms that housed the Band entourage on the 6th floor were left ajar (deadbolt stoppers) so the healthy chaperones and kids could check on the sick, try to keep the healthy kids separate, pass-out barf bags, change bed linens, administer medicines and comfort the unfortunate it was not a pretty sight.
By noon on Thursday, the Band Director was feeling queasy and over 1/3 of the Band was still unhappily in bed. A call was made to Disney/Epcot to cancel the afternoon concert and disappointment reigned. By 2:00 p.m. the lucky ones who were still feeling pretty good headed to MGM studios to salvage some of their entertainment package that everyone had worked so hard to pay for, but by the evening Medieval Times dinner, a half-dozen more had succumbed to the mysterious illness and by Friday morning the toll was approaching 25.
But, hope and happiness sparked as Disney was able to reschedule the Epcot concert for Friday evening, and those recovered and still healthy headed for a partial day at the Magic Kingdom to make-up for lost fun. The 3:00 p.m. meeting point turned out to be a mass of happy parade-watchers, so departure for the Epcot concert was a bit hectic, but the lost group of kids did the right thing and went straight to the bus. After a quick change backstage, we were on the bus to the Epcot stage as two more young musicians took ill, but the rest of the Band went on to deliver a crowd-pleasing performance of the Holst, Reed and Daehn that brought tears to the exhausted chaperones eyes. The Band earned the praise of the Disney Magic Music Days Director for tackling music he remembered playing in college, and health and spirits were on the mend almost. The spectacular laser show at Epcot that night ended with a little chaos as a couple more students disappeared in the crowd (it was dark), but again, the kids did the right thing and all heads were accounted for as we headed back to the hotel.
Saturday was the Heritage Music Festival Competition and the Band was early, all 38 present, if somewhat pale. They played their hearts out for the judges, especially the soloists, earning gold scores and praise for the difficulty of the music performed so well, if not quite perfectly. Following the performance, one more young musician succumbed and headed back to bed, with two others not making it through the evening for the awards ceremony at Universal Studios. The rest of the Band knew they had played well and enjoyed their partial Mardi Gras Day at Universal, but just how well they had performed would not be known until the award ceremony later that evening.
The only down part of the day was that the #1 nurse, chaperone and parent organizer, had to miss the Festival performance, finally falling to the apparent virus (no common point of origin could be pin-pointed related to food), but she was on her feet again by Sunday morning, ready to shepherd her flock back to the Alaska coast. The excited words following the award ceremony of one young trumpet player sum it all up so well: This feels so good. We did it together.
Of course, the trip home had its own character: a purse left on the bus (#1 concern was no ID to get on the plane home); a 3-hour delay in Seattle, with sleeping students scattered along the C-concourse; and about ½ the luggage still in Miami when we all arrived in Juneau. But, the Welcome Home was spirited, with well-deserved news coverage and it was too late to go to school, so everyone was happy. And now, a true confession: more than one chaperone breathed a silent sigh of relief when no parent at the airport said, but wheres my kid?
Students, Director, Chaperones, Parents, You are the Greatest!
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