Clinton Sickles

Sickles’ innovative project, “Using Rap Music to Debunk Problems in Life”, is designed to examine the correlation between music and therapy in a particular hospital setting. Because the students at Sickles’ school have severe emotional and mental health issues that prevent them from being able to be educated in neighborhood schools, they often require different approaches to learning. The program will add to the traditional “talk therapy” methods. Students will learn appropriate ways to vent their problems through styles of music they enjoy and in the language of their generation. They will develop self-reflective practices in their music that relate directly to their troubles, struggles, dreams, and hopes, and learn to use music as an outlet and coping mechanism. Utilizing computer software and recording equipment to compose their own songs, students will gain self-confidence and be empowered to overcome the fears they may have had in being able to use a musical voice to create music. Sickles, who lives in Monongahela, hopes to positively shape students’ attitudes about school, work, and life.