Spotlight on…
Ms. Pruett -Special Education Teacher – Sharpe Health School
“As my second year at Sharpe Health School came around, I reflected on how much I had really accomplished last year. As you may know, Sharpe is the only DCPS school for students with profound disabilities, so teaching students instruments is a challenge. Many of our students are unable to hold traditional instruments used in music class; some were able to hold, grasp and play some of the instruments but what about the others? As I experimented more I found that the sound of drums made the students smile the most. Students with hearing impairments can feel the vibrations; those with vision impairments use their hands and drum with their feet. I had about six toy drums but where to get money for real drums? I had used donorschoose.com in the past for other things so why not drums? I read about the therapeutic effect of drums and had taken a few courses myself so I decided to give it a try. I stuck with a small budget of $400 so that I could get a few drums to start….Filling out the grant form was easy and I was notified when every donation was made. After a couple of months the project was funded! I kept reminding the students that they were coming and when these big packages arrived, I was most excited! It is truly amazing to see the smiles on my students when they are drumming! ”
Kudos to you Ms. Pruett!
Learn about Therapeutic Drumming HERE
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As a fellow SPED teacher, nice work! Exciting and heartwarming!