Exceptional Learners Deserve Music, Too!

Dear Friends,

I am writing to you this month to share about the role of the paraprofessional or "para" in special education, and how training them can make a great difference for children with disabilities.

Whether you have seen paras at work or not, these individuals are in great demand, and many districts cannot fill their open para positions. But paras are crucial to the well-being pf students with extensive support needs! While the special educator is responsible for curriculum and teaching the children, the para supports individual students in a number of ways. These make learning and particiation at school possible for students with extreme physical disabilities, moderate to severe cognitive or neurological challenges, and more. Paras support individual children with hand-over-hand guidance, learning supports, and meeting physical needs that can include lifting children, changing diapers, guiding them when they move, addressing discomfort, soothing, bathrooming, changing their clothes, and working on crucial skill development. Paras do with students what students cannot do alone.

Suprisingly, paras do not receive professional development from their school districts except on a rare occasion. They must learn on the job. In addition, not every teacher takes time to train or communicate with their classrooms paras. So even though paras are willing to do the heavy lifting, many feel unseen, taken for granted, and the work is demanding. Many get hurt of the job, They are not filling these roles to get rich. They are there to make life better for someone.

At GITC, we see the power of including paras in learning to make music. We invite them to join teachers in our free training classes and workshops, and hundreds have participated with GITC over the last 25 years. Given the appreciation, recognition, an training they need to be effective is a game changer! Paras who can help a child play a drum, ring hand bells, or strum an ukulele open the door to joy and well-being for their students. They also feel better after making music because the  vibration of the instruments relaxes their nervous systems just as it does for the children. 

Paras who learn to sing, play instruments, and  support their disabled students to do the same make school a more joyful place. They have the power to help children focus, listen, understand, and create during music time. This is work no special educator in a moderate-severe special education classroom can do alone.

So this month we are celebrating paras! For the fifth summer in a row, we are hiring musical-loving GITC paras to serve side by side with our lead teachers and hosts in our Summer Strummers Enrichment Clubs in San Diego. They are earning better pay per hour than they receive from the school district. They are gifted with their own ukulele. We teach them support strategies for music each day, and they get to include their own creative passions in what we teach. They hold as important of a role as everyone else, and play a vital role in community. 

This summer we are welcoming Nelson, Diana, Martina, Ruby, Britney, Joel, and Teresa to our  team. Not only do Joel and Teresa serve as student support providers, they are both incredible musicians, GITC-trained teachers, and Teresa is an amazing songwriter! Here is a photo of her leading a song circle last summer. This year she will be a lead teacher in the morning, and a PIF in the afternoon.

We are so grateful for these incredible individuals whose specific understanding of student needs will make each day in our clubs a joyful experience for all learners together. With a great para, anyone walking into a GITC classroom sees everyone learning together, Dis-abilities is-appear!

Thank you for supporting this project. With your gift on Bonus Day on July 15th, we can offer free training and ukes to more paraprofessionals this summer and they will be ready to make music inclusive in the new school year.

Wishing you a very happy 4th of July weekend!    

 Jess