Free To Be Me Drum Circle activities are in support of Children's Day USA, an organization that "focuses on celebrating and enhancing
children today; on the future our children will inherit, and on the positive actions and solutions we can contribute for a better
today and a brighter future". Children's Day USA strives to foster community friendly positive attitudes and constructive actions
in our world: To help support education, encourage good citizenship,parent education, and great parenting events, To help establish,
promote, and encourage the celebration of Children's Day in America and throughout the world. To support and undertake community friendly
campaigns and improve the quality of our lives, individually, and collectively.
Buy a T-shirt and support our non-profit drum-gifting program. We can provide a drum to a deserving child through your donations or purchase of a T-shirt or patch.
To make a purchase, or a donation,
By playing drums together within a circle, they've learned to unite and play beyond their thoughts of fear and competition. They perform
at community and charity events and need your gracious support!
Thank You
Call Sabina at 310-318-7191
Tee Shirt $20
4 1/2" Patch $15
Give a kid a drum
Make a dream come true
August 2, 2008 A Better LA
March and Performance
Sidewalk Art Festival
Redondo Beach Pier, CA
August 23, 2008
Kool Kid Drummers
The After School Drummers were invited to perform at the Los Angeles Coliseum for A Better LA. "Helping to change communities from within". The event was a result of Pete Carroll's philantropic work to create a better L.A. through public awareness and big events like L.A. Live Peace. Also present were these other amazing leaders from our communities: L.A. Sheriff Lee Baca, Unity One's Bo Taylor, L.A.P.D. deputy chief, Charlie Beck, and Homies Unidos' Alex Sanchez. Previous to the performance was a march of dignataries, parents, children, and others interested in the cause, urging everyone to live peace. As the marchers poured into the stadium through the players' tunnel, the After School Drummers motivated and inspired them with high energy and enthusiasm with the drums. Also performing was the choir from the AGAPE International Spiritual Center of Culver City. Sabina welcomed the choir to dance down the line to the rhythm of the drums with the kids. Following their performance the drummers received a standing ovation from the community crowd and high recognition from the amazing leaders, Pete Carroll's special guests.
Free To Be Me Drum Circle and the Kool Kid Drummers were featured performers on the Redondo Beach Pier for the Chalk It Up Festival. Sabina brought plenty of drums and percusion instruments so everyone could join in the fun of crowd participation with Sabina's all volunteer heavy hitters. They are well known professionals who give their time openly to the non-profit FTBM. Also at the event was a young, talented, vibrant woman/dancer/performer, GULLY. She twirls her way into the rhythm inspired by the drum circle. She was joined by many dancers from the crowd.
Sabina's after school program is a group of children that come together to create a rhythm through one of the most powerful instruments in the world: the DRUM!
Performances
If you would like to view these kids in action, have chills go up your spine, possibly a tear in your eye, and a roar of laughter, click a link to view the video:
Drum Art Work created by Giselle Appert
When I Drum
When I drum I can hear my heart beat
I feel excitement from my head to my feet
It takes away my pain and worry
I don't feel like I'm
in such a hurry.
When I am drumming I feel free
My troubles fly away from me
And in comes all the peace and love
My spirit soars just
like a dove.
When I am drumming with my friends
I feel like we are family
And when we drum we sound like one
One heart, one soul, one
mind.
Poem by Sean Scheuering age 12
The power of the Kool Kid Drums met the power of art when music and art came together at the historical Redondo Beach Power plant. The vibration, the thunder, and the roar were definitely heard. All were welcome, from the beach to the inner city, to join along with the Free To Be Me Drum Circle, and boy did that happen! Sabina Sandoval started out the circle by showing the crowd how to fit into the grove and become one with everyone through the rhythm of the drum. Then the Kool Kid Drummers appeared with their thundering routine, complementing the crowd participation.
October 19, 2008
Redondo Beach, CA
The power of the Kool Kid Drumms met the power of art when music and art came together at the historical Redondo Beach Power Plant. The vibration, the thunder, and the roar were definitely heard. All were welcome, from the beach to the inner city, to join along with the Free To Be Me Drum Circle, and boy did that happen! Sabina started out the circle by showing the crowd how to fit into the grove and become one with everyone through the rhythm of the drum. Then the Kool Kid Drummers appeared with their thundering routine, complementing the crowd participation.
How To Get With Our Program
Support a drum program
Your child can be a part of a program just like this, and he or she can experience a lifetime of musical satisfaction
by learning to play the drum. But we need your help! Below is a list of things that you and other parents can do to support or help
in the implimentation of a drum program in your child's school.
- Inquire at the school about such a program-in person.
- Inquire at the district headquarters about such a program-in person.
- Arm yourself
with the facts about the benefits of a drum program in your child's school.
- Explain how your student was never really interested in
the traditional music programs.
- Discuss the affordability of drums and how easy it would be to make Drumming a reality.
- Do raffles,
fund-raisers, bake sales, and/or solicit donations from the community.
- Seek donations for drums from: faculty bulletin boards, PTA
newsletters, individual contacts with key civic leaders, local newspapers, public service announcements, local church bulletins, garage
sales, and any other source you think might produce intrurments for the program.
- Talk to the local music store about helping with
the program.
- Form a parent group to brainstorm and think of creative ways to come up with funding and drums.
- Remember, parents can make things
happen when it directly relates to their children's education.
- Volunteer to chaperon trips to music events and work to bring outstanding
performers to your child's school.
- Encourage community arts groups to form partnerships with local schools.
Drum hand painted by Giselle Appert
The After School Drummers were honored to play for Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa at the Los Angeles Reading Festival, "Feria del Libro". They started by marching, along with Los Angeles School District dignitaries several blocks through downtown from City Hall, followed by a rousing performance. After the performance, they were joined by Mayor Villaraigosa for a photo shoot, where they delighted him by playing a drum rhythm especially for him. The kids were then given $10 each, for the purchase of the books of their choice. As the kids wondered back with their purchases, they sat on the ground and began reading. The day was full of music, fun, and exposure to some great books.
June 7, 2008
Click the picture to view KKDs Slideshow
Increases SAT Scores
There is a direct correlation between improved SAT scores and the length of time spent studying the arts. College-bound
seniors who'd had school music experience scored 52 points higher on the verbal portion of the SATs and 37 points higher in math (89
points combined) than those without arts instruction.
--Profiles of SAT and Achievement Test Takers, The College Board, 1998
Improves
Skills Across The Curriculum
Studies have linked active music making with better language and math ability, improved school grades,
better-adjusted social behavior, and improvements in "spatial-temporal reasoning."
--American Music Conference, 2001
Teaches The Habit
Of Excellence
"The offerings in music history, music theory, and arts history seem to me a rich and enviable component for a secondary
school."
--Stanford University Admissions Officer
Prepares Youth For The Future
"As a chief executive of a technology company that thrives
on creativity, I want to work with people whose imaginations have been unleashed and who tackle problems as challenges rather than
see them as obstacles. An education enriched by the creative arts would be considered essential for everyone."
--John Sculley, former
Chairman/CEO, Apple Computers, Inc.
Music For Every Child
Because music is a basic expression of human culture, every student should
have access to a balanced, comprehensive, and sequential program of study in music.
--National Standards for Arts Education, 1994 by
Music Educators National conference (MENC)
Learning Responsibility
Instrumental music class promotes a desire to strive for personal
excellence, and cultivates responsibility and mutual respect among students and their relationships with authority figures. While
some students experience peer pressure to participate in unlawful acts and diviate from excepted norms, secondary students who participated
in band or orchestra reported the lowest lifetime and current use of all substances (alcohol, tobacco, illicit drugs).
--Texas Commission
on Drug and Alcohol Abuse Report, January, 1998 Houston Chronicle
Free To Be Me Shares Music Philosophy
Click on picture above to see
KKDs Holiday 2008 Performance
Live Homework Help targets students in grades K-Adult and provides them with homework assistance in English, Math, Science, and Social
Studies. the program is internet-based and connects students with qualified tutors in real time. The service is free and is available
in English and Spanish, on the County of Los Angeles Public Library website at:
To access the program, students need a County of Los
Angeles Public Library library card which is available free at any County Library location.
Live Homework Help is available in English
& Spanish every day from 1:00 pm - Midnight
