The dozen members of Malabar Intermediate’s handbell choir entertain the school’s cafeteria staff early Monday morning. There were only eight people in the audience – the cafeteria staff and one boy’s grandmother – but Malabar Intermediate School’s handbell choir celebrated the holiday season in grand style early Monday morning.
General music
teacher Pam Hunt arranged the brief but delightful serenade of cooks and their
helpers in the northeast corner of the expansive cafeteria.
“We wanted to do this for the cafeteria staff to show how much we appreciate them,” Hunt said.
The 12 students, some with hearing impairment and some with other special needs, rang their bells on cue at Hunt’s direction. The four holiday numbers concluded with “Little Drummer Boy.”
Debra Reynolds-Boggs, Malabar’s hearing-impaired teacher, said four of the students are profoundly deaf, one totally. Others have auditory processing disorder. Reynolds-Boggs teaches reading, math and other subjects in a classroom set up to accommodate students’ special needs. She is assisted by paraprofessional Tracy Gasper.
Those who
cannot hear react to the vibration of the bells.
“The handbell choir gives these students a wonderful sense of belonging and the courage to stand up and perform,” Reynolds-Boggs said.
Hunt also
emphasized the sense of belonging that the handbells provide, as she tearfully
recalled the reaction of one boy last year.
“He was not hearing impaired but he had a lot of difficulty adjusting in his classroom,” Hunt said. “When he joined the handbell choir, he was happy. He told me, ‘Finally, here’s something I can do.’”