KRISTIN WILSON
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My students were proud of their work and very excited to go to events where their work was featured. Many proudly posed to have their picture taken near their works of art. As their teacher, I was pleased that they were excited to share their experiences both orally and in writing. Not only did they increase their confidence and communication skills, they also increased their skills in visual arts, producing finished products that were displayed at the festival and the County Fair which they were proud to show their parents and friends.
C) What comments do you have regarding your overall I Can Do That! experience with the 2012 County Fair?
Great experience just like last year! The kids had a blast and loved everything! I liked the stage we danced on better this year! I hope the fair is available for the performances next year!
WENDY YEE & YVONNE MARTINEZ
Special Education Teachers
Rosa Parks Middle School
Artist: Kevin Goings – Drumming
Student Story
She was a transfer student who joined the class for the last two months of VSA Drumming classes with Kevin Goings. She came to us with a mountain of family issues that resulted in reports, CPS, police, and social workers filling her days. Throughout all this, she made sure she attended school on the days we had VSA class. Throughout the hour, her face was beaming and filled with laughter as any other regular 8th grader enjoying an experience. At the end of her first class, she lined up in front of the room just to give the instructor a big hug of appreciation.
This student's entire school experience was enlightened by the weekly drum classes taught by Mr. Kevin Goings. As her teacher, I truly believe that the joy of music he brought to our students gave this one student hope for a better day and something positive to look forward to each week. Week after week, she concentrated, focused, and laughed her way through class. She was not the most talented rhythmically, but she tried so hard to do well. By the end of the classes, her enthusiasm for the experience was shared as she expressed to me that she had never had so much fun learning something new as she had in the VSA classes. I was just thankful that she'd come to our school to catch as many classes as she had. Despite all the growing up she had to do in her personal life, she was allowed a chance to be a kid and enjoy the gift of learning music that VSA offered her this year.
Thank you, VSA, for everything you have to offer our students.
She was a transfer student who joined the class for the last two months of VSA Drumming classes with Kevin Goings. She came to us with a mountain of family issues that resulted in reports, CPS, police, and social workers filling her days. Throughout all this, she made sure she attended school on the days we had VSA class. Throughout the hour, her face was beaming and filled with laughter as any other regular 8th grader enjoying an experience. At the end of her first class, she lined up in front of the room just to give the instructor a big hug of appreciation.
This student's entire school experience was enlightened by the weekly drum classes taught by Mr. Kevin Goings. As her teacher, I truly believe that the joy of music he brought to our students gave this one student hope for a better day and something positive to look forward to each week. Week after week, she concentrated, focused, and laughed her way through class. She was not the most talented rhythmically, but she tried so hard to do well. By the end of the classes, her enthusiasm for the experience was shared as she expressed to me that she had never had so much fun learning something new as she had in the VSA classes. I was just thankful that she'd come to our school to catch as many classes as she had. Despite all the growing up she had to do in her personal life, she was allowed a chance to be a kid and enjoy the gift of learning music that VSA offered her this year.
Thank you, VSA, for everything you have to offer our students.
Student Story
A quiet 8th grader, she rarely speaks unless addressed to first, then she still struggles to look at adults in the eye. She is filled with quiet insecurities that she tries to hide from those around her. Imagine my surprise when she approached me one day with a fully-rehearsed request.
This 8th grader took a deep breath before plunging in. It turned out that she wanted to take home a case of chocolates that we were selling as VSA fundraising, but she felt inadequate to be trusted with her case. As she spoke and relayed her previous experience fundraising to me, I was first excited, then touched as I realized that she felt she had to convince me of her worthiness to take home a case of chocolates. After she finished, her face was deep red and she was breathing heavy. I gave her a big hug and thanked her for her willingness to help out. She took home a bag and sold the entire set in a week.
As the semester wore on, the student came alive through the drum class. The genuine enthusiasm and love that the teacher brought to the class was contagious and spread throughout the students. The last few weeks, he stayed late with a smaller group of students and gave one on one help to students. She was bold enough to step forward and volunteer to play solo for him. As she did that first time, I saw a confidence in her that I'd not previously seen in the classroom or in the group drum setting. Clearly, she had developed an inner strength along with an ear for the rhythmic beats and was confident enough to display that in front of others.
Thank you, VSA, for teaching our students a different level of confidence and strength that they can carry with them into their high school and adult years.
A quiet 8th grader, she rarely speaks unless addressed to first, then she still struggles to look at adults in the eye. She is filled with quiet insecurities that she tries to hide from those around her. Imagine my surprise when she approached me one day with a fully-rehearsed request.
This 8th grader took a deep breath before plunging in. It turned out that she wanted to take home a case of chocolates that we were selling as VSA fundraising, but she felt inadequate to be trusted with her case. As she spoke and relayed her previous experience fundraising to me, I was first excited, then touched as I realized that she felt she had to convince me of her worthiness to take home a case of chocolates. After she finished, her face was deep red and she was breathing heavy. I gave her a big hug and thanked her for her willingness to help out. She took home a bag and sold the entire set in a week.
As the semester wore on, the student came alive through the drum class. The genuine enthusiasm and love that the teacher brought to the class was contagious and spread throughout the students. The last few weeks, he stayed late with a smaller group of students and gave one on one help to students. She was bold enough to step forward and volunteer to play solo for him. As she did that first time, I saw a confidence in her that I'd not previously seen in the classroom or in the group drum setting. Clearly, she had developed an inner strength along with an ear for the rhythmic beats and was confident enough to display that in front of others.
Thank you, VSA, for teaching our students a different level of confidence and strength that they can carry with them into their high school and adult years.
ROBYN COTA CANN
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LINDA GULRICH
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Bryce was a big young man with very few words and a lot of sound and proximity sensory issues related to his autism. Prior to my class he had been in a small non-public school designed for autistic learners. Noah was a large 5th grade boy in the 4th/5th grade class with emotional and behavioral issues. Neither boy was particularly social and this made including both of them in hip hop class a challenge. Bryce needed frequent food reinforcers to remain at the perimeter of the group –and even then he would often pull away or lay down to avoid practice. Noah was more clear cut—he would simply act out /behave inappropriately to get sent to the office. At the beginning of one practice, Noah asked me why Bryce behaved the way he did. I responded that he was shy and didn’t want to dance with the others . Noah said that he felt the same way. After that interaction, Noah began saying hello to Bryce in the hallways, out at recess, or in the cafeteria—and he said it was okay if Bryce didn’t respond. A very quiet kinship formed…..Two weeks later I noticed that Noah was at school, but not at hip-hop practice. He had blown up at his teacher about participating in hip hop, and despite her best efforts, he was refusing to attend any more classes. At this point we were now practicing on the stage—and Bryce was even more resistant to participating in a smaller environment with nowhere to run. He began hiding in the wings plugging his ears and vocalizing a high pitched whine. At recess, as Noah said hi to Bryce, I asked if he would reconsider joining hip hop—not as a dancer, but as a stage manager…..Noah said he would have to think about it. The next week(with encouragement from his very patient teacher), Noah was on stage pulling the curtains open and closed and giving cues. From then on he and Bryce would sit quietly on the sidelines—both content to be out of the glare of the lights . On the day of our performance at Coloma Community Center, both boys put on their t-shirts and bandanas. When the music started , Noah opened the curtains, and Bryce stood next to him plugging his ears and holding his legos . Then, Bryce moved part of his body onto the stage: he didn’t dance, but he stood there. Noah gave the cue for a bow at the end of the performance, closed the curtains and then he gave Bryce a hi-five. That is what VSA is about. Not the big performances and applause—but the quiet victories when a child realizes “I can do that”.