Lisa-Ann Barton and Steven Rivera, Jr.

Barton and Rivera’s innovative teaching idea, “Makaha O Makaha,” focuses on helping students heal from trauma by using music and creative play to help them develop their gross motor skills, self-regulation capabilities, and to lay down the cognitive foundation necessary for literacy and math competency. The Voya grant will be used to fund Barton and Rivera’s drumming program, which will include performances and visits from a professional drummer/musician. Students will also learn how to drum to different rhythms and learn songs from their diverse cultures to perform for a variety of audiences in and out of our school while developing skills that they couldn’t learn and build in a traditional pencil and paper classroom.