Nearly 200 Pickerington High School Central students will perform for the nation next week at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

The Pickerington Central Marching Tigers will appear on NBC shortly before noon on Nov. 26 as they represent the community in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City.

The band, which in January will also march in the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, Calif., will be the "Santa Band." That means it will march directly ahead of Santa Claus at the end of the nationally televised parade.

"Demographically, that's the most-watched portion of the parade," said Mike Sewell, PHS Central band director. "We will be on television at 11:53 (Thanksgiving) morning."

Sewell, who has directed marching bands at Pickerington High School and now at PHS Central for the past 29 years, will lead 193 members of the Marching Tigers and four banner carriers as a Pickerington band performs in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade for the fourth time.

This year's performance will tie Pickerington with Youngstown Boardman High School for the most Macy's appearances by an Ohio school.

The trip also will include shopping in Times Square and sightseeing. Band seniors will take in the Broadway show "In the Heights," and the entire band will see the Rockettes at the famed Radio City Music Hall.

The band departs by bus for New York City at 6 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 24. The students will return to Pickerington at approximately 9 p.m. on Nov. 27.

From there, the focus will turn to the Tournament of Roses Parade, for which they'll fly to Los Angeles on Dec. 29. That trip will include stops at Disneyland, sightseeing and marching in the parade on New Year's Day.

The Marching Tigers will be the second band - along with Lassiter High School (Marietta, Ga.) - to perform in the Macy's and Rose parades in the same year.

"For the first time, the Rose Parade is going to be broadcast in China," Sewell said. "That's another 4-million viewers."

The Marching Tigers will be joined on that trip by the Ohio School for the Blind and the Ohio University Marching 110.