Musical Wall for Kids
Olivia plays the clarinet and tenor saxophone in her school's
symphonic band and has witnessed first-hand the positive effects music
can have on a person. “I could be in a room with a bunch of people
from different countries and nationalities with my instrument and
play. They would understand my music better than if I just said ‘hi’.”
Olivia observed that her school was lacking in musical education and
access to musical experiences for students in Kindergarten through 2nd
grade. Knowing the impact music can have in a person’s life, Olivia
set out to change that at her school.
With the help of
more than a dozen volunteers and multiple community organizations,
Olivia constructed an outdoor musical wall using uncommon items to
create instruments including cymbals and even a xylophone out of PVC
pipes. To measure the impact of her project, Olivia gave presentations
to the teachers at her school on the purpose of the musical wall and
asked them to collect specific data on the number of kids using the
wall, how long they interacted with it, and then observations the
teachers made on the student’s tendency towards musicality after
interacting with the wall.
One obstacle that Olivia
faced was how roughly the kids interacted with the music wall. To
overcome this, she created an instructional video demonstrating how to
use the wall, which teachers shared with their students. One of the
teachers informed Olivia that a student with autism was benefiting
greatly from her music wall project. “That made me feel so warm inside
because that is the main reason I built this structure; to help people
in my community, in a different way, through music.”
