Burton High School Marching Band heads to Washington D.C. for Independence Day Parade

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Only one high school band will represent the entire state of California in the upcoming 4th of July parade in the nation's capital. The band selected is from San Francisco.

Rehearsals started early Wednesday morning. The Burton High School Marching Band is set to leave California on July 1 for its first-ever big performance.

"I've never taken a band on a plane before and hopefully that goes well," jokes band director Manuel Young.

The 68 band members will represent California at the National Independence Day Parade in Washington D.C.

"On a scale of one to 10, I think my band is a 12 out of 10 because of the effort and the sound we're creating right now, it's unbelievable," said Feliz Huang, a band member.

The band is young-- the program started only eight years ago.

"I've played tuba for about seven to eight years and I would have never thought I'd get to that level, and we're getting to that level this year," said an excited Amiel Franz Del Campo, another band member.

It was House Speaker Nancy Pelosi who picked the band.

The school is named after Phillip and Sala Burton. Both husband and wife served in Congress.

Which brings us to an interesting story. When Sala Burton was in the hospital suffering from colon cancer and the Democratic party needed someone to replace her in Congress, Sala Burton reached out to someone who wasn't a big political figure, her name-- Nancy Pelosi.

That's how Pelosi ended up in Congress. By selecting this band, she is perhaps symbolically returning the favor.

The band is still trying to raise some more money for the trip to D.C. If you want to help here is a link to their GoFundMe page.