At the beginning of last year, this young man approached me (as an 8th grader). I had not known him, but none-the-less, in a slightly awkward way he asked me if you could join band. In the past I have been hesitant to start beginners with students who have been playing for several years, but he assured me that it was something he wanted to do and something he would work at.
He is a foster child, without a lot of money, and it was evident that he would need to have an instrument provided free of charge. It also happened, that I needed a tuba player (as many bands do) so I told him if he would try the tuba, I would could let him use it for free. He said ok and so we went. After I had this young man enrolled in my class, I got paperwork on him letting me know he was a special ed student, with high functioning autism. This would, of course, explain his slightly odd interactions with people.
As we started on the tuba, it was very frustrating for both of us. I was trying to explain it to the young man as many different ways as I could, and something about his autistic mind was not understanding. Finally, after weeks of trying to explain basic tuba playing and (music in general) to this young man, I explained things in a way that just clicked in his mind, and he took off with the tuba playing. As I mentioned, he started only last year, and by the end of the year, he was already at the level of most of his classmates (who had been playing for four years already).
His potential is really remarkable. The only problem, is that he is 6’ 4’’ as a freshman, and he is playing on a little, 3 valve, ¾ size tuba (because it is all Renton High has). By receiving this grant, this will give my young tuba player a chance to continue growing as a musician and be involved and a contributing member of a group…the band…a really valuable skill for autistic students to learn. The gift of the tuba and all the instruments, will have profound impacts on the kids of RHS and DMS.
Thank you again.
David Rolandson, Music Teacher