By Carl Blankenship
carl.blankenship@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY – Each year, Carson High School’s Honor Chorus program takes a trip, which has taken students all over the country, from Hawaii to New York City.

This year, students toured Washington, D.C., and New York City during the holidays.

And while kids on the trip had the chance to see new things, they also got some exposure of their own: the group opened for The Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall. 

Students also saw landmarks in the nation’s capital and visited the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, which many of the students were not able to see during middle school trips. While in New York, they had a new experience for all in the group: a dinner cruise. The cruise took the group through New York harbors, by the Statue of Liberty, included a buffet meal, a D.J. and a chance to dance.

Students also saw the 9/11 museum and memorial, something Choral Director Megan Wyatt said many had never seen before. Most high students were not born when the 2001 terrorist attacks happened.

Wyatt planned the trip one year in advance to give students time to make payments to attend and perform fundraisers. With past and future trips, Wyatt said, she tries to find funding if students or parents need it. She noted that her church takes love offerings to support the annual affair.

On this trip, meals were included and Wyatt raised enough extra money to take the entire group bowling.

“We make it work,” Wyatt said.

Students also saw some broadway shows, a highlight for many of them.

“This was the first time I saw Beetlejuice and I was just amazed because the cast live sounded exactly like it did on the soundtrack,” said Senior Olivia Kesler.

Kesler was on last year’s trip, too, and said this year’s lived up to, if not surpassed, the prior year.

She also learned about the difficulties of being in a busy city over the holidays.

“You have to walk fast and not get lost,” Kesler said.

It was Senior Brooke Morrison’s first time on the annual trip and her first time seeing a place as big as New York City. She also pointed to Beetlejuice as the highlight of the trip

“I just thought it was really cool to see everything in person,” Morrison said. “You see all these TV shows that take place in New York, you see all these landmarks on TV and it’s just like a completely different perspective it being right there in front of you.”

Sophomore Jacob Collins’ favorite part of the trip was taking the dinner cruise.

In contrast to the two seniors, Collins said he was “just chilling” on the trip.

Wyatt has already started planning next year’s trip, which will take the group to Massachusetts, where students will get the chance to see Boston, Salem and Plymouth for the 400th anniversary of the pilgrims’ landing.

The group will be coming back through New York City on the way back from Boston to catch “The Music Man” on Broadway, starring Hollywood actor Hugh Jackman.