Tubanos sound through the school as cowbells, gankoqui and shakaree keep the timeline for Beat for Peace.  Thirty fourth and fifth grade students play an intricately woven ensemble of complementary rhythms that is as much a song as model for human interaction and communication.  Established in 1995 at Starlight Cove Community Title I Elementary School, Beat for Peace is a music-based intervention built out of the collaborative efforts of Michael Kane, School Counselor and Paul Corbiere, Music Teacher.  We saw the need to reach a portion of Starlight Cove's student population who seemed to become increasingly disenfranchised with school at this early age.  We recruited students with attendance, academic or behavioral difficulties, students with family conflict or dysfunction and those with poor self-esteem. 

The Beat for Peace drum circle is based on a complementary relationship between resiliency research and the World Music Drumming curriculum.    Along with musical rhythms, students learn the resiliency traits of social competence, school affiliation, self-concept, a sense of purpose and future, and the value and worth of diversity.  Led by the circle leaders, students sit in a circle and play their way through the curriculum pausing to discuss how the ensembles and musical tasks can be applied to real life.  In Dunno or small group counseling sessions more time is spent talking about matters of diversity, respect, goal setting and self-efficacy.  Teachers rated their success with classroom focus, social competence and participation.  The program is evaluated through a series of surveys and pre/post testing instruments as well as student self-reflection. 

The success of Beat for Peace can be boiled down to the three key components of a successful program:  Collaboration, Accountability and Integration.  We have learned the value of working together across disciplines.  We've experienced great success in collecting data, documenting successes and sharing those successes with colleagues and other professionals.  Finally, we've brought our intervention into the mainstream by encouraging key academic skills in a manner consistent with the Sunshine State Standards.  We continue to have it strategically recognized in our school's School Improvement Plan.

Beat for Peace continues to grow at Freedom Shores and Starlight Cove Elementary Schools.  We currently involve school counselors, ESOL counselors, and a grade 5 teacher in the project.