10 - Wild Card

 Wild Card: SAU Foster Care Initiative: Parents' Night Out "Music Night"

On April 18th, members of the Gamma Omicron chapter of Tau Beta Sigma partnered with Southern Arkansas University's Foster Care Initiative (FCI) to host a music night for local foster children.

SAU + VISTA

The Foster Care Initiative is a project under the AmeriCorps VISTA program at SAU, currently led by SAU VISTA Fellow Alyzah McGlasson. AmeriCorps is a government agency founded in 1993 to engage Americans in service to others and help alleviate poverty. The VISTA program allows individuals--called "Fellows"--to "support an organization to make sustainable change in areas that affect poverty, including education, public health, climate, access to benefits, and more." SAU employs 26 year-long Fellows who lead various projects serving the campus and the greater Magnolia community. 

Above: Past VISTA Fellows

The event was part of a monthly "Parents' Night Out" program that offers foster families a night to themselves and provides children with enjoyable social, craft, and recreational activities facilitated by FCI staff and campus volunteers. The FCI partners with The CALL in Columbia & Lafayette Counties to connect with foster children and their families and lead the event. SAU's Tau Beta Sigma chapter was approached about planning music-related activities for the night, and our members jumped at the opportunity.

The program took place in the Student Event Center on SAU's campus. The children (13 in total) began arriving at 5 p.m. and had time to run around, color, or play with toys before enjoying a delicious chicken spaghetti dinner. Two members helped serve food to the kids and volunteers.

Above: Venus and Ashley served spaghetti, garlic bread, and drinks.

Activities

Then, the musical activities began. First on the agenda was a brief instrumental performance from Gamma Omicron. We played a medley of three popular songs that the kids would recognize or appreciate: the Peppa Pig theme song, "Pink Pony Club" by Chappell Roan, and the theme song of Bluey, while I conducted. The last tune encouraged audience participation, inviting the children to shout the characters' names at the right moments. We all enjoyed it and even had the opportunity to show the kids our instruments if they were interested in learning more about them.

Next, we planned to play freeze dance or musical chairs but decided against it because the children were so young. Due to the nature of the event, we were unsure about the age ranges of the kids who would attend, so some of our activities were better suited for middle to older elementary students than four-year-olds. This was fine, though, since it allowed the children more time to "run around and act insane," as I put it to my group.

We had more free time before finally moving to the craft portion of the night! This was my favorite part, as I chose the music-related crafts we would create. First, we made egg shakers using Easter eggs, dry pinto beans, and Washi tape. This was a fun activity suitable for all ages, and the children loved decorating their eggs with stickers and gems. 

Finally, we made guitars using tissue boxes, rubber bands, and paper towel rolls. This was a fun but tedious craft since it involved hot glue, which did not work well. However, I liked seeing the kids' beautiful, bedazzled creations and watching them enjoy their new mini instruments!

Two Amazing Rubber Band Guitars

While there were a few behavioral incidents, the children were very sweet and appreciated us being there. Overall, the Foster Care Initiative Music Night was a success! We enjoyed interacting with the children and hope to instill a love for music that will last for years to come.