Wailuku Elementary School - Maui, Hawaii
January 23, 2009Wailuku Elementary is filled with energetic kids who were so well behaved. They all listened to every word Jake said and were extremely responsive to his message and playing alike. Thank you to Art Vento from the Maui Youth Arts & Cultural Center for arranging the Maui visits. The children were stoked to see Jake played and gave him cheerful earnest applauses.
Jake loved joking around with them and they were so amused with his activities and jokes. He told them that they all have rhythm because they have hearts that beat and that is their rhythm. The kids were so into everything he did and ooh-ed and awed in amazement with all his ukulele techniques. When Jake demonstrated the drums on his ukulele, they even started clapping along with him on their own and kept up perfectly! He told all the kids that the key to being happy is to find something that they want to do more than anything else and stick with it. He called up a volunteer and asked her what her passion is, which turned out to be singing and dancing. She agreed to sing a song for her fellow classmates and did amazing for such a young girl.
When you have passion, you’re not afraid to share it with people, so Jake knew that singing was truly her passion. Jake reminded to kids that there is one thing that can destroy all of their dreams and passions, and that is drugs. So he made them all promise themselves to never do drugs because it will do them no good and only make their lives worse.
Jake then demonstrated all the various types of music that can be played on the ukulele and went into “Crazy G” where the kids screamed faster each time Jake stopped. Afterwards, all the kids crowded around Jake, requesting him to sign their hands. It was such a tender sight to see. Again, mahalo Art for providing this exceptional opportunity!