For
eight
Fridays,
from
October
to
December,
a
special
group
of
Kilby
Elementary
School
fifth
graders
took
time
out
of
their
day
to
grow
in
leadership,
relationship
skills,
and
self-awareness
by
taking
rhythm
training
on
the
Djembe
drum.
It
all
started
when
Vicky
Castro,
school
social
worker
for
Kilby
and
Jenkins
Elementary
Schools,
heard
about
the
training
sessions
being
offered
at
T.
Clay
Woods
Elementary
School
to
learn
how
to
lead
a
DRUMBEAT
music
program.
DRUMBEAT
is
an
evidence-based
social,
emotional,
and
leadership-skills-learning
program
that
uses
a
combination
of
five
core
elements
to
build
healthy
social
interactions
and
emotional
learning,
social
connection,
and
development
of
supportive
relationships
to
empower
individuals.Castro, who took the training at T. Clay Woods, says she loves drumming and took a few private lessons on the Djembe drum before starting her first group at Kilby this school year. She and Marissa Payne, professional school counselor at Kilby, met once a week for 45-minutes with seven fifth-grade students, introducing the three basic drum strikes: bass, tone, and slap. These are the guidelines the group developed: be kind, be respectful to others, have a good attitude and gratitude, be safe, and treat others as you want to be treated.
"The students immediately began to see their leadership potential and use positive language," said Castro. "The guidelines are not the typical rules students come up with when they are asked to develop rules for a class or group. The positive message of DRUMBEAT sets the student up for thinking positively about themselves and sets them up for success."
Castro said she could clearly see the students' discovery of self-awareness and personal growth as they practiced various lessons together and discussed how each made them feel. For example, identifying and overcoming their responses to stress, such as when one drummer attempts to keep a beat while his peers use various means to try to interrupt his rhythm. T. Clay Wood's Principal Andrew Buchheit, who brought the DRUMBEAT program to PWCS in 2018-19, said his school has used it with a number of different groups the last two years and has seen students grow socially and learn to make better choices.
As a final performance, the drummers have asked to perform for a kindergarten class so that they can show the younger students what they have learned.