MAHANOY CITY - The children of the Head Start program here made a lot of noise on Monday not only for fun, but also to raise money for Schuylkill United Way.
More than 80 children arrived at the Child Development Inc. center with homemade drums made from coffee cans, paint cans, large potato chip boxes and other round containers, decorated simply or elaborately for what was called a "Drumathon," which was also held in the other CDI centers throughout Schuylkill County.
The event is part of the "Week of the Young Child," which is an annual celebration sponsored by the National Association for the Education of Young Children, the world's largest early childhood education association, with nearly 80,000 members and a network of more than 300 local, state and regional affiliates. The Week of the Young Child began in 1971 and focuses public attention on the needs of young children and their families and to recognize the early childhood programs and services that meet those needs.
Head Start teacher Beth Thomas spoke about the activities for the week as some of the children warmed up on their drums.
"Every year, the Week of the Young Child is celebrated programwide," Thomas said. "This is the first year we're doing a Drumathon. Last year we did a Hopathon. The kids made their drums at home with their parents. At 10:30, everyone is going to drum. We asked for donations and the money that the children brought in is going to the United Way."
Thomas said the centers will have activities throughout the week.
"We have different people coming in all week," Thomas said. "We have a woman coming in one day for a planting activity with the kids. The police are coming on Thursday to show the kids the cars and on Friday we have the Schuylkill County Historical Society coming up to do a presentation with the kids."
In the center's hallway, artwork created by the children is prominently displayed. Thomas said some artwork is displayed at locations throughout Mahanoy City and additional artwork will be displayed for two weeks at the historical society in Pottsville.
The original idea was to have the children do their drumming outside, but because of the rainy weather, everyone gathered in one classroom. The children entered the room with their drums and sat on the floor. It didn't take long for them to begin their unique take on percussion, all playing at their own speed and rhythm.
After the children warmed up, they were visited by Thomas Flamini, the drummer for the local band Toolshed Jack. Flamini brought his own snare drum and tried to keep up with the children, which was a challenge. After a little while, the children and Flamini were in sync ... sort of.
"Good job, guys," said Flamini. "My first drum was the same thing that you have in front of you."
The children in groups were brought to an office room where Flamini had his drum set, explaining to the children how and why each drum sounded.