MARCHING TO THE BEAT OF THEIR OWN DRUM.. FIND OUT HOW IN TONIGHT'S FOCUS ON EDUCATION IN THE 21ST CENTURY… NATs <kids playing drums> THESE SECOND GRADERS AT TOPEKA'S McCARTER ELEMENTARY ARE GETTING TO EXPEREINCE AFRICAN DRUMS. "kids kind of explore the tabanjos, the big drums to the base drums and the metals and the go-go bells, the cow-bells and they kind of get to do different rhytams and we pass rhytams around.. NATs THE KIDS DO THAT IN WHAT MRS. FORD CALLS A "RUMBLE"… Kid: someone does actions and you have to follow what they're doing…
KIDS TAKE TURNS DIRECTING THEIR CLASSMATES FROM THE MIDDLE OF A CIRCLE… THEIR CLASSMATES HAVE TO INTERPERATE THE MOVEMENTS USING THEIR DRUMS… "if a kid is boucing the ball hard int eh middle they'll play harder on the instrumet, or maybe they're rolling the ball, they might try to figure a way to roll or move around on their drum head or if they're doing it soft, they might drum softly on their instrument. MRS. FORD SAYS ITS IMPORTANT THAT THEY KIDS ARE ALLOWED TO INCORPERATE THEIR OWN CREATIVITY INTO THE MUSIC MAKING PROCESS. "i never know what they're going to do in the middle and they teach me things that I never thought about doing on the drums and ways to interpreate the rolling and stuff like that, so Iknid of learn and teach another class..
So they're teaching me along with me teaching them." <JACE MILLS:> THE DRUM LAB TRAVELS TO DIFFERENT 5-0-1 SCHOOLS. THE DRUMS WERE PAID FOR BY THE "TOPEKA PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION."### <JACE MILLS:> IT MAY BE COOLING.