BEING UPBEAT
BEING UPBEAT
DRUMS NOT DRUGS MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE FOR GIRLS AT LONG LANE SCHOOL
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DRUMMING UP SUPPORT -- Girls help each
other pick up the beat in a new drumming circle at
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Written by KATHLEEN MEGAN |
"Ahh-Go!" comes the cry from Gerard Hector, calling out a Swahili word
for "I'm speaking."
"Ah-may," the girls reply: "I'm listening."
And then Hector's hands fly to his drum, beating out tattoos that the girls
repeat back to him: sambas, calypsos, rhythms of African and Latin origin. The
girls tap, beat and slap with their fingers, the heels of their hands, their
entire palms.
The energy spirals upward in the old auditorium at
Later, some of the girls say their hands get sore or bruised from so much
drumming, but they are not really complaining.
Monique Kendrick, a 14-year-old from
The drumming circle is just one of several new programs started last summer at
Long Lane designed to develop skills for life and for employment.
Kristine Ragaglia, commissioner of the Department of Children and Families,
explained that with the boys moving out of Long Lane into the new
"Girls need different kinds of programs," said Ragaglia. "They
have a number of issues that boys don't necessarily have."
A majority of the girls have been sexually or emotionally abused, Ragaglia said.
"Most of the girls at Long Lane are not hard-core perpetrators. ... Usually
they were along for the ride, and something bad happens."
Ragaglia said the new programs are part of her agency's overall effort to move
the culture at both the girls' and boys' juvenile justice facilities toward
"a much more rehabilitative focus."
Working with a
"We are not trying to develop a pool of manicurists or drummers,"
explained Alan MacKenzie, who is director of "Our Piece of the Pie."
Rather, he said, the classes take advantage of kids' interests to help them
"pick up the soft skills to be employable."
For instance, in the drumming program, the girls have learned about the
importance of working together, of being reliable, and have become skilled and
poised enough to perform at off-campus events in
To say these programs have appealed to the girls is an understatement.
Indeed, their popularity created a problem that Long Lane had never seen before.
Last fall, one of the students, Cassandra Beaulieu, was ready to leave the
school, but she refused to go unless she would be allowed back for drumming
class.
"Trust me," said Gayle Brooks, who oversees programs in the state's
juvenile justice facilities, "that's never happened before."
Beaulieu, who is now 16, had arrived at Long Lane in June, before the programs
started, and said that when drumming class began, it changed life at the school
considerably.
"Before, there really wasn't much to look forward to," she said.
"This gave you something to look forward to instead of just sitting in your
room."
When it came time to leave, she said, "I was happy to go home, but I didn't
want to leave that program. ... It's exciting to learn a beat, to play off other
people. It kind of brings us all together."
Beaulieu was allowed to come back after her official departure on Nov. 2. As one
of the first participants in the program, she is a valuable member of the group
who works hand-over-hand with newcomers to help them get the beat.
Brooks said the drumming program is particularly good for girls because in
adolescence it's often "harder for girls to rely on each other ... to trust
each other and not compete for attention."
The drumming group, she said, "creates a team out of a group that isn't a
team. ... It's very pro-social stuff: to get 20 people doing the same thing at
the same time and take a lot of pride in it."
The department is planning to rotate other programs run by "Our Piece of
the Pie" through Long Lane, Brooks said, to keep the girls interested.
In addition, the state has offered the girls a chance to take dance therapy at
Long Lane and hairdressing and cosmetology at
Of all the programs, it is probably drumming that is the most popular among the
girls.
Hector, a fourth-generation drummer from
He teaches at other schools and locales but finds that the girls at Long Lane
play with particular intensity.
"These kids get body and soul into it," Hector said.
One of the participants, a girl who asked to be named only as Jennifer, said,
"A lot of people stay out of trouble because they want to come here and do
the drums. If you get in trouble, you can't come."
And there is a calming effect afterward.
Kendrick said the drumming is "a good way to release a lot of anger."
"It makes you forget what you're all upset about,'' said Beaulieu. Indeed,
Hamish deWilde, acting superintendent at Long Lane, said the new programs have
resulted in fewer behavioral problems.
"You keep the girls busy here, you are going to see a decrease in
acting-out behavior," he said. "It's important for them to have
something to look forward to. Before, there wasn't much."
Jan. 6, 2003 Grade school
drummers chosen for poster kids
New Haven Register
Nov 05, 2002 Valley group gets 2
grants to curb substance abuse
New Haven Register
Oct 21, 2002 Students march to
beat of different drum
New Haven Register
Oct 14, 2002 Drumming away
boredom
New Haven Register
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BEING UPBEAT
DRUMS NOT DRUGS MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE FOR GIRLS AT LONG LANE SCHOOL |
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