NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. (WKBW) — After almost a year of waiting, Molly King and her Orleans/Niagara BOCES students finally have the adaptive drum kit they have been waiting for.
"It's not like these kids don't understand what is going on or understand music they just needed something that was adaptable to them" King, a music teacher with Orleans/Niagara BOCES said.
The drum kit comes from graduate students at the Rochester Institute of Technology, who made this for their senior design project, donated to Orleans/Niagara BOCES.
"We saw that they could do it they just needed an extra push to get there," Sofía Quiñones a student on the project said.
It took about 12 weeks to get the drums up and running, using incredibly sensitive buttons that allow the students to play different parts of a drum kit.
"They're getting to see that something I am actually doing is leading to the hit of a drum so it simulates playing the drums for them," Quiñones said.
The kit was delivered on November 20th, and Quinones says that the immediate reactions showed why they poured months of work into it.
"It's really special getting them to do everything they knew they could do and everything they wanted to do," Quiñones said.
It's become invaluable for students at Orleans/Niagara BOCES, who finally are able to participate in a class they had trouble with prior.
