On April 9, 2019, North Forsyth High School’s Drumline traveled to Dayton, Ohio, for the WGI Percussion World Championships. They left the high school at 3 p.m. that afternoon to embark on an eight-hour bus ride. Drumline students shared bittersweet ‘nervous-but-excited’ emotions, but were overall pumped to perform in front of their largest audience to date. The theme of their show was “A Taste of Summer,” a show that brought the audience all the way to sandy beaches full of tacky Hawaiian spirit wear. They wanted their viewers to feel as if they were at “a beach party which they never wanted to leave,” expressed pit member Lacie Von Krosigk.

When it was time for them to take the stage, the NFHS drumline blew the crowd away. From fake waves to beach balls, all their tricks and stunts tied in perfectly with their music. “Once we ended our performance, everyone in the room just started clapping. It was like everything was in slow motion. It felt so good. Everyone performed really well even though we were under pressure from all the competition,” stated freshman Andrea Escobar.

After performing on Wednesday, the Raiders spent the next three days touring Ohio. They watched shows around the area, ate at unique restaurants and went to a local mall. By Sunday, they were back on the bus driving to Georgia. Once they had gotten back home, though, band director Kevin Kenny announced with a heavy heart that he would not be returning to NFHS next year. He said that he would be moving to Milton High School and will miss everyone deeply.

Moving past this sad news, the band scored a 78 overall in the championships. Even though they didn’t come out as winners, it was still a huge honor to play at WGI. Winning isn’t always important to the NFHS percussionists. They did the best they could do and had fun while doing it and to them, that itself was a win.

A Short Video From WGI:

https://youtu.be/4moYVhBURio