New Grant Aids Student Achievement

Wednesday, April 27, 2005

You have to be able to hear in order to enjoy percussion instruments. You have to be able to hear to fully appreciate the rhythms of the dance. Not so in either case and the children at The Detroit Day School For The Deaf are proof positive.

 The school has just been awarded a $27, 885 Grant to provide more music and dance education to the school’s students in mainly the elementary grades. The program funded by the grant is entitled VISA: Drumming and Dancing at Detroit Day School for the Deaf. Ms. Gretchen Coleman, the principal and Judith Shelton, a staff teacher submitted the Grant application. A previous grant allowed the school to purchase conga drums which was an atypical approach to expanding the world of deaf and hard of hearing children in a school setting. But the teachers soon realized that the drumming and accompanying dance instruction reinforced patterning and sequencing which helped the children with their reading and helped them focus better. Some of the children liked the experience so much that they gave up their lunch hour to go to the drumming and dance classroom. The new funds will be used to pay the salaries of instructors who will come to the school to work with the children on the drums and dances through a collaboration with the Hearing and Sign Language Center of Detroit and the First Circle organization. VISA is a two-year program that will be evaluated every three months. Parents can become involved by attending small group lectures to learn about the program.