Happy New Year! 

I hope everyone is off to a great start to 2026 and that everyone had a wonderful break. I know many of our students in Apopka did. 

Our Apopka Blue Darter and Wekiva Mustang marching bands certainly had a great break. Both of our local bands were honored to be invited to participate in very special parades on New Year’s Day. 

The Darter band headed overseas to participate in the London New Year’s Day parade. What an absolute treat to see OUR Apopka Blue Darters marching down the London streets. The students visited all the great sites while in London, including Westminster Abbey.  

They weren’t the only ones representing our community; The Wekiva Marching Mustangs participated in the Sugar Bowl parade in New Orleans, also on New Year’s Day. They won five awards at an awards dinner, including 3rd place overall for the parade. 

Both bands represented not only Apopka, but all of OCPS in a tremendous way! 

These incredible experiences for our students do not come easily. They take months of fundraising and organizing from parents, boosters, community members and very dedicated teachers like Mr. Langford and Mr. Petty, the band directors at Apopka and Wekiva, respectively.  

We have been working with these bands for over a year to make these trips a reality. The final push happened just last month when the Foundation for Orange County Schools secured a funder for the last $25,000 Wekiva needed for its trip. 

We hear a lot about educational choice these days, and our state is very proud of the opportunities it offers families to choose what educational path is best for their child, and I support that.  

But in choosing options outside of public schools, parents need to know that these opportunities may not be available without the backing of a large school district that has tremendous community support.  

When choosing an educational path, I hope parents look at all the opportunities that each option provides. As children age, education becomes about more than just what happens in the classroom. Opportunities outside the classroom impact students as well.  

These kids not only experienced these trips with their friends and created memories that will last a lifetime, but experiences like these also change perspectives and outlooks. They have a way of creating a desire to set up your life to allow for future adventures, to plant a seed of exploration that can develop into motivation to work hard to keep your dreams alive.  

In other words, these kinds of trips can be life-changing. 

How lucky we are that hundreds of our Apopka children were given the opportunity by their local public school to have this experience.