Right after school on April 8th, the Highlander Band left to fly overseas and into London for the England-Scotland Tour. The band has been preparing for this trip for months by making payments, fundraising, getting passports, selecting activities, and so many other steps to work towards this trip. The band set off overseas to London in the U.K. For the nine days of the trip the band students took tours from London to Shrewsbury and Edinburgh. The band toured famous places such as the Tower of London, Hampton Court Palace, and Stirling Castle. They enjoyed all of the sights from the busy streets of  London to being able to see the Highlands of Scotland.

Their multiple concerts they performed pleased the residents in the U.K and put the band in the Shrewsbury newspaper and online. Tons of residents and other tourists would gather around and area to watch and listen to the outstanding performances. They went to see West End musicals Phantom of the Opera, Wicked, and Les Miserables, participated in activity classes in Shrewsbury (such as singing, dancing, tin whistling, etc), lived with their homestay families, and participated in the Piping of the Haggis along with many other fun activities.The homestay families were people who volunteered to house groups of the band members during their time in Shrewsbury. The students would live in their houses, get to know them, and have breakfast and dinner with them.

The Piping of the Haggis was an event in which the dish (the haggis) would be presented while the piper (or in this case the pipers Mr. and Mrs. Smolinski) would play Scottish tunes while the guests would clap until the dish reached the destination table. The haggis is a very important dish made out of either sheep’s or calf’s stomach filled with oatmeal, suet, and seasoning. After the dish reached the table, the address to the haggis would be given, and then the chef would stab a knife into the haggis to be served.  

Although the flights were long, it was always cold (luckily the weather was pretty decent compared to the typical weather of the U.K) and the trip itself was absolutely exhausting, all of the band members and staff had a fantastic time.The students arrived at Newark airport on April 17th, and then were welcomed home at the high school with their family and friends. The band members were able to go home and rest as well as share their fun experiences from the trip. The students still even showed up to school the next day despite utter exhaustion. Congrats and thank you to the band for putting on fantastic entertainment and for representing our high school with pride!