year from today, the Fayette County High School

Band will have returned home from a

two-and-a-half-week dream trip to Australia.

The

group will have performed at opening ceremonies

of the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney,

played in concert with Australians at the famed

Sydney Opera House and traveled to Canberra.

But

first, band members planning to go on the trip

must raise $3,200 apiece. About 150 students have

committed to go, and band director Kenneth Beard

said sign-ups will remain open until Dec. 1. In

the meantime, Beard said the band organization

will be soliciting corporate sponsorship and

raising funds through pizza sales, drink sales at

football games and possibly through a major

fund-raiser being discussed.

"People

will also have to pay for part of the trip,"

Beard said. Students have been encouraged to mail

out fund-raising letters to relatives asking for

pledges to finance their trip. "All

donations are tax deductible," Beard said.

showdown on the band's decision to participate in

the games' opening ceremonies and make the

journey to the land down-under came two weeks ago

when parents voted 141-61 to accept the Sydney

Olympic Committee's second invitation. The

initial invitation, issued and accepted by the

school last spring, was rescinded in July after

members of the Olympic committee decided there

were too many "foreign nationals"

(translation: "Americans and Japanese")

participating in the musical opening, and not

enough Australians.

The

announcement touched off a flurry of protests in

the East and West. Eventually, the other groups

that had contracted to play at the games backed

out with World Projects Corp., including Walton

High School in Cobb County, leaving Fayette

County High as the only United States high school

delegation to perform.

Did

the uncertainty of Fayette County High's decision

negatively affect their fund-raising efforts?

"I don't think so. World Projects Corp. said

we couldn't have bought all that media

attention," Beard said.

Beard,

who has headed up the band program at Fayette

County High for nine years, admitted becoming

emotional the night the final vote was taken on

the whether the trip would proceed or be dropped.

"I definitely wanted us to do this. It's an

unbelievable opportunity," Beard said. Beard

even traveled to Australia in July to assess the

offers being laid on the table and returned

optimistic that the outcome would be favorable.

Fayette

County band members will be part of a

2,000-member international band opening up the

Olympics. Music will be provided by the Olympic

Committee and rehearsals for Sydney-bound band

members will be scheduled in addition to their

regular school band sessions.

Students

will be required to keep up with school work

while abroad, and Beard said there will be tutors

available in Australia. "They will have

time, especially when we're in Bathhurst, to

study," Beard noted. The group will be

lodged at the university in Bathhurst. It is not

yet known if any Fayette County teachers will

accompany them, but Beard estimates 15 to 20

chaperones will be needed, and will pay their own

way.

Defending

his decision to take the band to Australia, Beard

added, "Education doesn't go on just in the

classroom. It's important that young people gain

perspective. Within these kids' lifetime, we will

become totally global."

The

Fayette County band was selected to perform based

on its history of musical excellence. "For

the last six to seven years, we have received

straight Superiors in competition. Every year for

the past four years, we have placed or come in

first," Beard said