DANCE, SING, PERCUSSION EVEN IN A WHEELCHAIR!

So much has happened since my last blog... The new position as Music Teacher at a brand new school, Harlem Heights Community Charter School, in Ft. Myers, turned into two other referrals and now I am part of Gulfcoast Symphony Orchestra's, "Music Works Program" and also The Gulfshore Opera Company, "Harmony Choir" Program. As Curriculum Coordinator and Guest Artist/Lead Teacher for all of these fine organizations, I am so grateful to be apart of one of the most challenging opportunities of my life.

I have met Riverpark students and staff and we are about to partake in a first time, ever, performance of its kind. The Director/Recreation Supervisor of this wonderful program is Ms. Lynn Clarke. Lynn Clarke's population of students that she gathers together, after school is the most diversified and challenged group I have ever met, even though I founded a Deaf and Multiple-Handicapped Dance Program in Boston, which was held at Regis College, Weston, MA. Many of the students who comprise the Riverpark group have 'aged out' of the system.

Quite frankly, that means that, technically, no one can claim them within any of the educational 'systems' anymore because they have become too 'old' to be covered by services. I saw this, distinctly, when I was involved in the area of law which was care and protection of children and juvenile delinquency. In essence, these 'clients' are discarded. Lynn covers them. and she does so with professionalism and love. She has a vast background in Recreational Therapy and she knows that if these students do not stay with her, they will stay nowhere, thus furthering their isolation and disappearance from society.

My position at Riverpark is to teach all of the students Music Theory, Dance and Voice. Many of the students at Riverpark have severe exceptionalities such as Autism, seizure disorders, Down's Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, and some are bound to a wheelchair, barely able to move even their fingers. Among this group of students (totaling thirty) are elementary through high school students who have no exceptionalities... The entire group takes my class. The entire group is thriving, in their own special way. I want all of these students to be included in all of the classes.

I asked a friend of mine, Kelly Bryan, who is a professional bassist, if he had any thoughts about how I would be able to include the wheelchair bound students. His answer was immediate and to the point: "Percussion" was his answer and yes, that was the solution. From my Dance Studio days of supplies, a fellow teacher friend of mine had created (for a Christmas show) over four hundred sets of bells that were threaded together with elastic bands. This is what we use and now and all who wish to participate do participate!

Each and every student, with or without exceptionalities, benefit from the other. The kindness that I witness, week after week, from the students and staff is immeasurable. The staff ratio, for many of these students is one to one. So many of these students have been among the hidden faces in mainstream activities that we, all, take for granted.

This week, these students will Dance, and Sing/with Sign Language and they, all know how to identify so many definitions in Music Theory.

Lynn has invited people to fill the auditorium and there could be as many as two hundred family, friends and supporters of this First Time Performance. I am so blessed to be apart of these wonderful programs and to be associated with such Heroes.

Next blog... I will tell you about at risk teenage Heroes!

Also, watch for my second book, entitled, "Yes I Can Dance" which will be released in February, 2017, with the guidance and expertise of Mr. James Abraham, my Publisher and my new, extremely, talented Illustrator, Ms. Cynthia Hassell.

Dr. Lois Carme