Cocoa Beach HS Band performs in D.C.

FOR FLORIDA TODAY • April 14, 2010

The Cocoa Beach Jr./Sr. High School Wind Ensemble performed at the ceremonial entrance to the National World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., on March 28.

Forty students, plus parents and chaperones, took the five-day trip over spring break.

Th same students put on a "Concert of Thanks" before the winter holidays in Cocoa Beach. At that concert, held at Cocoa Beach Jr./Sr. High School, the students showed their appreciation for all of the support of our Armed Forces, firefighters, police departments, and the community members and organizations that help the band all year.

"This performance in our nation is just another way the students can give back to others using their musical talents," said Charles Booker, director of instrumental music at the school.

The students raised funds and volunteered to cover the cost for their trip.

"The concert at the World War II Memorial was 30 minutes long. It included patriotic songs, songs commemorating World War II, and a medley representing each of the branches of the Armed Services," said Clare Marie Tomaselli, a parent chaperone on the trip.

" The concert was enjoyed by a large crowd of tourists who stopped to listen while visiting the WW II memorial," she said.

In addition to performing the concert, the Cocoa Beach students had a visited Arlington National Cemetary, the Capitol, the Supreme Court, the Library of Congress, the National Archives, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the Korean War Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, FDR Memorial, Ford's Theater, the National Gallery of Art, the Holocaust Museum and many of the Smithsonian Institution museums.

They also went on a dinner cruise on the Potomac River and went to Madame Tusseaud's Wax Museum and tried flying kites on the National Mall as part of the Smithsonian Kite Festival.