By Brian M. Boyce
TERRE HAUTE — “You’re not tired, are you?” Randy Beard asked a room full of fifth graders at 1:35 p.m.
“Noooooooo!” they howled back in unison.
A nationally recognized singer-songwriter, Beard returned to Terre Haute for a double-header Tuesday, conducting lessons on literacy through lyrics at Deming Elementary School in the afternoon and again in the evening as part of the school’s Title 1 Parent Night.
Beard noted during the afternoon program that he was venturing into his second decade of working with school children, and fifth-grade teacher Becky Wiesneth, as she sat with her class, recalled the artist playing at her school when she attended Rio Grande Elementary.
Beard, a former elementary school teacher and basketball coach, travels the country as a speaker and educational consultant, teaching through the prism of “learning through lyrical literacy.”
Armed with an acoustic guitar, keyboard and impromptu rhyming skills any rapper would envy, Beard took the students’ essays and poems and led them in song.
Students jumped to microphones singing phrases such as “I’ve got better things to do than drugs” and “onomatopoeia.” Onomatopoeia is a term that refers to words that are spoken how they sound, such as “screech” and “woof.”
Beard alternated between scary ghost voices and his chipmunk impersonation as the students mixed into the language lesson set to music.
“Fifth grade is a very special age for me because it’s the first time I started playing music in a band,” he told the students, guitar in hand.
Deming Elementary Principal Susan Mardis said she’s been involved with Beard’s work many times in the decades he’s performed and noted he’s still “wowing” the students.
Mardis referred to Deming Elementary School’s fifth-graders as “school leaders.”
“They’re just awesome kids,” she said of the 48 students lining the floor as Beard converted essays into song. As they left, Mardis reminded them of Tuesday night’s Title 1 Parent Night where Beard would perform again.
Title 1 is a program funded by the federal government that targets schools in low-income areas, such as Deming Elementary, and the at-risk children who attend.
Teacher Travis Turpen said Tuesday was his first experience with Beard, who drew the teachers into the songs by name for purposes that seemed as random as the rhymes. “Pretty amazing,” he said of Beard, adding that the creative use of language and lyrics is a plus for the kids.
Brian Boyce can be reached at 812-231-4253 or brian.boyce@tribstar.com.
