Refocusing education inside Hollenbeck Middle School. (Tallie Johnson/Neon Tommy)

The only sound in the usually noisy classroom at Hollenbeck Middle School in Boyle Heights is a slow, steady thud. The rhythmic beat comes from the hands of eight students using the books on their desks to create the sounds. Each student pounds the book in unison, banging first with one hand, then the other as the teacher, Diane Collins, sits in the middle of the semi-circle of students and gives instructions. 

“Focus on the beat. Focus on the beat,” Collins chants in an almost trance-like state. Slowly the students close their eyes and the rhythm gets softer and softer until it becomes a faint whisper of a beat.

With their eyes shut, the students are instructed to envision where they want to be on spring break. Some students imagine themselves on an island. Some see themselves at a park. Once the students’ eyes are open and they are relaxed, the teacher starts the drumming beat now at a quicker speed.

The students then begin reading together as a group from a book about camels. Collins picks up speed as the students read more quickly. They read each word in rhythm to the beat they are drumming. The passage ends with a thud from the teacher with the final beat.

This isn’t a lesson in drumming but a program designed to help struggling readers. The program is the creation of a professional percussionist and it works on the theory that drumming helps readers by helping the child over his or her fear of reading.

The program uses primal sounds as an education tool to help children improve their reading, behavior and grades. The drumming is an in-school and after-school program that  schools, juvenile halls, and detention camps across California have taken part in. Currently 14 schools, four detention camps, two juvenile halls, four family centers, and several libraries have incorporated the curriculum.

“As the students progress in their reading, they become more and more confident,” said Collins, a middle school teacher at Hollenbeck in East L.A. “They are able to tackle more difficult words because of the drumming. It helps them break down words in a fun way.”

Literacy is a key component that impacts future job prospects. According a National Adult Literacy Survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Education, nearly 44 million adults in the United States cannot read an elementary story to a child.  According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services roughly 50% of the nation’s unemployed youth ages 16-25 are functionally illiterate with little prospect of obtaining regular employment.

After the initial warm up and group read, each of Collins’ students receives individual attention. Then the teacher takes the time to drum or “track” with each student, using her hands to follow the rhythm at which the student reads. If the students start to read faster, Collins drums faster.  If the student reads slower, she drums slower.

“When I’m drumming with the student we reach a point where my pace matches their fluency,” said Collins.  “Then we have a whole new energy together.”

Through the one-on-one readings, Collins is able to assess each student’s individual needs.

“At first I felt weird,” said student Yesenia Lopez. “I was nervous reading aloud. But now I just remember to sound it out with beats.”

Part of the energy generated between teacher and students comes through repetition. The students connect with the words through the beat. When they stumble over words they do not know, they use the beat to help remember.

In class, Rafael Valencia stumbled over the word “load.” Collins asked the class how many syllables were in the word.  Valencia, thin with dark hair, answered two. Together they drummed the word load. They also went over the definition. The teacher drew a picture on the board of what a load looks like. She drew a person carrying what looked like a heavy sack. Together the entire class drummed the word load. Then Valencia read the passage again to Collins’ drumming.

“I can read chapter books now,” said Genesis Guerrero. “And I used to never read at home, but now I do.”

Students must follow seven rules to participate. The rules are intended to help the students break bad habits. The rules are recited aloud before each session. Among them: “All words are created equal.” “Relax the body and focus the mind.” “Read smooth, not choppy.” “Sit up straight.”  And “Never repeat a word.”

The program’s results have been promising. Students are tested for accuracy and fluency before and after going through the program. Tests look at the words per minute students can read as well as their accuracy with challenging vocabulary. On average students improve up to three grade levels in just six weeks.

The six-week program costs $1,500. This includes 60-minute sessions twice a week for up to 12 students.

At Hollenbeck, Collins does the program with her students two to three times a week. She has seen noticeable changes not just in their reading, but their confidence.

Many of Collins' students were reading well below their level with some students reading at a second-grade level. The program specifically is targeted to give hope to students who are often embarrassed by their reading skills.

“Trust is the gravity of greatness,” said Steven Angel, creator of the Reading and Rhythm program. “And what that means is trust allows all the learning to come together and rhythm is the attractor that bring all these pieces together.”

At Hollenbeck Middle School, Angel leads a drumming session with a student. At the end, Angel asks Yesenia Lopez to go over what she has just covered. He asks her to close her eyes, and then he asks her questions.

“The passage talks about how many camels?”  asks Angel.

“Two,” answers Lopez.

“What does the camel have to do before someone can ride it?” asks Angel.
When she hesitates, Angel tells her to trust herself. She pauses and the room is silent as she gives her answer that the camel must bend down. Angel gives her a high five and the girl smiles sheepishly.

Angel, tall and bald with a bright smile, is the founder of the Drumming for your Life Institute, based in Santa Monica. Drumming has always been part of his life. He was a child prodigy who began playing at the age of 3. By the time he was 16, he was performing as an open act in concerts across the country. He was touring the world with bands drumming, but success at such a young age led to burnout. He was tired from touring and wanted more normalcy than what he could find on the road. 

In 1988, Angel refocused his energies to create a program that used drumming to help people deal with stress at places like juvenile detention programs. He wanted to help people channel anger and to encourage them to improve their lives.

Angel has no college degree. He is not an educator, or a doctor. In fact when asked about his education, he said, “I spent eight days at Berkeley College of Music. I have studied books, read, and spend time in classrooms--that is my education.”

His background is the reason people at least listened to his ideas in the beginning. “That is why I’m so adamant about testing,” said Angel. “I want people to have tangible proof that it works.”

He has spent time in juvenile detention centers with his drumming therapy program. Angel wanted to expand his program and looked toward schools. In 2001, he created the Reading and Rhythm program after spending months in an elementary school classroom observing and working with the students.  He also created other programs that use rhythm or drumming as a form of therapy. He goes into rehabilitation clinics, where patients can drum out their feelings.

These days Angel spends more time teaching the method so educators can bring it into the classroom. His goal is take the program national and have chapters in different cities. He already has meetings with schools  lined up in Chicago.

“It’s an extraordinary experience to see a kid break through the walls of their belief system,” said Angel. “When they go from reading 50 to 90 words a minute, they read with confidence. They light up and in that moment and they know their life is full of possibilities.”

Reach Contributor Tallie Johnson here.