ST. GEORGE, Utah — The soothing sound of music can build bridges, and sometimes, with special education students, it takes a lot of patience. But at Snow Canyon Middle School in St. George, students and staff have made a breakthrough with the language of music.
Ninth grader Hayes Van Lehn is a peer and mentor to special needs students as a member of the school’s band, teaching them to play musical instruments.
Some of the students are non-verbal, but they’ve learned the language of music as part of a nationwide program called United Sounds, and Snow Canyon is the second middle school in the state to take part.
Music teacher Hayley Winslow adopted the program after learning about it at a conference. She says it has opened up worlds for the school’s special education students.
“I’ve heard from one mom in particular, [she said], ‘I knew [her daughter] could, now everyone knows she can,’ and that to me is the statement that just melted my heart because we do, that is why we’re here. This is why this program exists,” Winslow shared.
On Wednesday, members of the Utah Symphony provided some of their own foot-stomping mentoring.
“It’s just, mostly you feel it. [Students] just feel really excited to be there,” said Utah Symphony oboist Lissa Stolz.
The program does take money, about $35 per student in a district that typically keeps a tight budget, leaving Winslow on the search to raise more funds. For the student mentors, it takes the currency of patience.
But Winslow said the mentors are also getting an education.
“What I see in them is empathy and love,” she said, “and the understanding of differences and how that can help them grow and why that’s so important to have in the world.”
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