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By NOAH WORTHAM | Managing Editor

ORLANDO, Fla. – Oak Mountain High School’s Spirit of Cahaba band had magic in its step as it carried recognizable tunes down the streets of Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom.

The Spirit of Cahaba performed in the afternoon parade block at Walt Disney World in Florida on Friday, March 15.

“It is a really rewarding experience for the students,” Associate Director of Bands Travis Bender said. “We felt really fortunate to be considered for the opportunity and are thrilled to have had the invitation to share that experience with our students.”

The Spirit of Cahaba helped to set the tone during the parade by performing musical tunes from last year’s halftime show which featured recognizable Disney properties such as “The Mandalorian” and “Indiana Jones.”

“The crowd loved it,” Bender said. “Bands feed off of audience response and so, to be there and to have such a grand response from the crowd (and) then our students stepped it up another notch and seemingly performed even stronger than they had for us in rehearsal.”

On top of treating park guests to a musical and visual display, the band students also had the opportunity to enjoy three days of adventure at Walt Disney World.

“We had three days in the parks to let the students explore and see what all Disney has to offer,” Bender said. “We really encouraged them to note all of the world class entertainment that they have there.”

Students had the chance to go to the nighttime spectaculars in each park as a group as well as enjoy live performance  and see the talents of other musicians in person.

“I think band allows many of our students opportunities to experience cultural events and performances of a variety of genres that they might not normally see here in Birmingham,” Bender said.

Bender said that the band is fortunate that the community of Oak Mountain is supportive of the performing arts and discussed the opportunities that band provides as an extracurricular activity.

“I’m thrilled that we have our board of education’s support and the community’s support to be able to travel around the country and expose our students to top notch entertainment performances,” he said. “I think it allows them to really grow closer as a band family and those are memories that they are going to take with them for the rest of their lives.”