On Friday, Nov. 8, students at Welches Middle School took to the stage to tell the story of how rock is eroded in a river and turns into pebbles.

The performance was not conveyed through acting or even any words, but
through drums.

As part of the Right Brain Initiative, Korekara Taiko, a Japanese drumming
group based in Portland, spent two weeks at the Welches Schools, leading
students in drumming lessons that centered on the values of cooperation,
perseverance and respect. Each week culminated in a performance created by
the students.

“Those drums just fill the room with sound,” said Welches Schools Principal
Kendra Payne. “It’s really super awesome.”

Payne noted this is the sixth year the school has offered arts through the
Right Brain Initiative, an arts integration program to help students link
learning from one area to others, and the second time the drumming group
has visited the schools.

In other years, the program brought different arts into the schools, including
students performing Shakespeare, creating comics and making a mural of
Mount Hood out of recycled objects.

Payne added that the core values that are part of the drumming program
mirror those of the school and adding it to the fall schedule starts the year off
on the right foot to build momentum in these areas.

“They really made those explicit links between the art form of drumming and
the core values,” she said, noting that teachers and the artists were able to
make connections between the values and daily occurrences, such as
playground conflicts.

Michelle Fuji, taiko artist and co-director of Unit Souzou, the performance
group associated with Korekara Taiko, said that they focus on encouraging
students at each school to create their own voice.

“The joy and excitement that they get from hearing the drum is pretty special
every time,” Fuji said. “It’s always remarkable to see how far they can
express themselves through the drums.”

Fuji was also the Korekara Taiko instructor to visit Welches the first time, but
during that year, she only worked with younger students in kindergarten
through third grades.

This time, all students from the middle and elementary schools got to
participate.

“It was really different; it was great,” she said. “Because all the students were
involved, we could really show the level of expression.”

Payne echoed that sentiment, noting that it was valuable to have all the
students share the same experience, while adding that the older students
could explore more complicated and nuanced patterns.

“I think drumming is especially powerful for kids because it's a whole-body
activity,” Payne said. “Every single part of them was involved in making
music.”

The program was made possible due to the support from the school’s Rainbow
Run in addition to support by the Starseed Foundation and the Paul and Sally
McCracken Fund of The Oregon Community Foundation.