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Drumming up donations
Three Oaks Elementary students show their appreciation for Bonita Bay Group grants
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BONITA SPRINGS — A group of Three Oaks Elementary School students tapped on drums Wednesday morning to showcase how money from the Bonita Bay Group’s school grants program helps them become well-rounded students.
From American classics like “Yankee Doodle Dandy” to the sounds of African tribal music, the group of boys switched instruments between songs while guests that included the state’s lieutenant governor ate a buffet breakfast.
Bonita Bay Group awarded more than $62,500 in grants for school projects at nine schools in Lee, Collier and Hendry counties this year. The grant program has provided $630,793 to schools over the last 18 years.
Representatives from each school accepted their grant money and gave a small talk on where the funds will go, such as field trips to Native American sites, and learning about robot building, butterfly gardens and tech devices that make classroom learning more fun.
The grant money came just in time for Three Oaks Elementary School’s musical drumming program.
“Termites had eaten some of our existing drums,” Principal Vicki Parks said. “It’s hard to have a program when you don’t have instruments.”
The musical drumming program is open to all students, but especially centers on those with severe emotional handicaps and struggling students.
“It really helps them focus. We’ve had students bring their grades up because they didn’t want to lose the drums,” Parks explained.
Music teacher David Norris contemplated making drums from paper plates, spoons and coffee mugs, he joked to the crowd, but changed his tune when he heard about the Bonita Bay Group grants.
“I decided to go ahead and shoot for the moon,” Norris said. “These musical skills mirror skills necessary for life. … Kids love drums. The sight. The sound. The power.”
At the breakfast, Bonita Bay Group Chairman David Lucas said the importance of education couldn’t be tossed by the wayside, despite the slump in the economy.
“You’re trying to influence youth and build leaders for tomorrow,” Lucas told educators at the breakfast.
Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp agreed.
“Bonita Bay Group is to be commended for stepping up and helping these schools and teachers, especially in this time of budget shortfalls across the state. The company recognizes the importance of private support for public schools, and how creative projects like these can really make a difference in our students’ education,” he said in a release.
With iPods and computer games, teachers face new challenges every day, forcing them to come up with innovative ways to keep students interested in learning, Kottkamp said at the breakfast.
“We live in a very different world. It’s a far more complex world … We need to give our children those tools,” he added.
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