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See It: The Community being helped
The LaVoy Lyrics Chorus Club includes students with moderate to severe disabilities, with the majority economically disadvantaged. The club rehearses twice a week during the school day. They perform for school functions and take walking field trips in the neighborhood to perform in the community.
The LaVoy Lyrics Chorus Club wants to participate in National Youth Service Day in April by performing a sing-along concert at the Westshore Senior Center. They want to raise awareness of the the disabled and the elderly. The disabled are frequently shunned and the elderly are often forgotten in the community where they were once productive members of society. Like the elderly, the special needs students at LaVoy Exceptional Center are often forgotten members of the community. Due to the nature of their disabilities, some of the students reside in group-homes. Others are limited to a homebound lifestyle, except when they ride in a handicap accessible school bus, which is just another daily reminder to them that they are different.
Our students face many obstacles when participating in cultural events. For example, our two choristers who are visually impaired often have physical barriers when performing that could keep them from reaching their full potential. Most students at LaVoy have little or no opportunities to interact with people outside of their normal daily routine at school and home.
“Music Connects A Special Chorus With Senior Citizens” will benefit all of our choristers by developing better communication skills, improved social skills and life skills as they prepare for the Alternate Assessment for Special Diploma. In addition, this project will empower the LaVoy Lyrics Chorus to engage their audiences through a sing-along concert.
The LaVoy Lyrics Chorus wants to give back to the Westshore Senior Center community for previous invites by providing refreshments and flowers for the seniors. In addition, they want to present a student-created banner in celebration of the day and later send a photo collage as a thank you.
After the concert the choristers would like to present hand-crafted gifts (created by our school art classes and art club) to members of the audience. School aides and chaperones will assist choristers. Then the chorus will interact with the senior citizens after their sing-along concert. Prior to the trip choristers will role-play to use acceptable social skills during the reception.
Upon our return to school we will show a video of the event to share with the students at our Center and for them to sing-along.
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Vital Stats
| Started On: | April 1, 2008 | Ended On: | April 25, 2008 |
| People Involved: | 180 | People Impacted: | 180 |
| Money Raised: | none yet |
Project Updates:
The LaVoy Lyrics Chorus completed our “Do Something” project on Global Youth Service Day. We selected the songs we would sing beforehand. We picked songs that we thought everyone would know. That morning we walked to the Westshore Senior Center with the assistance of aides and teachers. At the Center we performed a sing-along concert for 60 seniors. We were greeted by the director and when our concert began we each reintroduced ourselves to our audience. Our Site Administrator from LaVoy surprised us by attending the sing-along. We invited him to say a few words. Before our concert began we presented the Senior Center with a banner that they hung on the wall. The banner was created by art students at our school and it included the logo of Global Youth Service Day along with the Logo from our “Spring Into Action? Do Something Project.” We took turns leading songs and singing solo verses for songs. Members of the audience sang along and we even invited members of the audience to sing solos.
Our student leader, Antonisha, presented a bouquet of flowers to the Center which was donated by a local Publix Store. After the concert we presented each audience member a handcrafted door hanger gift created by art students and students in the art club. As we gave each person in the audience a door hanger we visited with them. Then we presented a beautiful sheet cake with a greeting written on the top. We decided on a message to have printed on the cake that read, “The LaVoy Lyrics Chorus Celebrates Global Youth Service Day with Westshore Senior Center.” During a previous visit we told the manager that we were going to pick up trash on the way back to school and she was excited to help us with our effort. She provided us with trash bags and gloves. After picking up trash on the way back to school we stopped at the Loretta Ingraham Center to rest and drink boxed juice beverages. We picked up more trash there and then walked back to school. We got back to school at noontime and enjoyed a picnic lunch together outside in back of the music room. We celebrated the success of our “Do Something” project. A few days later certain choristers decided which pictures we would put in the collection on a poster to give to the Westshore Senior Center as a fond memory of our time together. Then after the photos were printed we all signed our names on the poster. Later we took turns over the microphone saying what we liked best about the day we sang-along with the seniors
