Drumsticks fly as Athens children learn about musical cultures from around the world.
World Drumming for Kids is a new program at the Athens Community Music School. The students not only learn how to play drums from countries like Ghana and Brazil but also the historical and cultural context of where they originated, said Elizabeth Braun, director of the Athens Community Music School.
The students are learning about the cultural differences in drumming, as well as the power of working together in a group, said Jeff Wolfe, the instructor of World Drumming for Kids and an Ohio University graduate student majoring in music therapy.
Wolfe is only one of the 33 OU students in the school of music who are teaching at the Athens Community Music School.
The school is in Glidden Hall 551A and has been providing musical education to Athens and the surrounding area since 1979.Since fall 2005, the school has averaged approximately 300 students a quarter, Braun said.
With each class costing between $80 to $100, the students that participate are offered need-based scholarships through the music school, said Braun.
The school's advisory board raises funds through a letter-writing campaign in order to establish donors, Braun said. This year, the school raised over $5,000 for scholarships, compared to the previous year's $3,500, she said.
By having OU students as teachers, the programs remain affordable while the student instructors gain hands-on-experience in the classroom, Braun said.
Another advantage to having student instructors is their knowledge of a wide range of instruments, including string instruments, she said.
The music school has established both the Children's Chorus and the String Orchestras. It offers classes for teens and adults as well as four classes for children, including World Drumming for Kids and Jump Start for Music.
Jump Start for Music is a class that uses music to help with the early development of math and reading skills, said Kamile Geist, the Jump Start for Music instructor.
We are using music to teach non-musical skills
she said.
At the start of this quarter, Jump Start for Music was introduced along with World Drumming for Kids.
World Drumming for Kids has six students but is looking to grow in the next few quarters. It is an eight-week program directed at children between the ages of nine and 13.
I chose this program for my son because we do spiritual drumming and this is expanding his knowledge of different cultures said Ginger Gagne, the mother of 8-year-old student, Montana Stake.
The drumming is good for his sense of rhythm and is a new form of discipline, Gagne said.
I like being part of the university and we will definitely continue to do programs like this she said.
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Jeff Wolfe, a second year masters student in music therapy, explains the frame drum to students in the Athens Community Music School.
