THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 7, 1995 TAG: 9505050274
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 18 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ALLISON T. WILLIAMS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines
WENDY COPELAND, 11, hears a message in one of Ludwig Van Beethoven's most famous symphonies.
The German composer was deaf when he wrote his Ninth Symphony, said Wendy, awed as she and her classmates listened to the work's familiar ``Ode to Joy.''
The message: ``You should never let a disability become a handicap . . . that keeps you from reaching for your goals.''
Wendy is enrolled in Booker T. Washington Elementary School's special arts class. The school's gifted art and music students recently finished their study of Beethoven by producing an original puppet show about the composer's life as a musical prodigy.
The production, which incorporated parts of his most famous compositions, was performed for the PTA and for groups of classes at the school.
Taught by music teacher Joy Zambelis and art teacher Janette Synder, the class is to build the students' skills and interests in fine arts.
Although Beethoven was born in the 18th century, the Booker T. Washington students said he had to overcome many of the same obstacles faced by some children of the 1990s.
``His father was an alcoholic and (was) mean to him,'' said Rafael Williams, 11, a student in Synder's class. ``And when he lost his hearing in his 20s, he fell into a deep state of depression.''
Zambelis' 14 fourth- and fifth-graders used computer encylopedias, books and musical recordings to learn of Beethoven's life. Then they compiled the research into a play about what growing up as a child musical prodigy must have been like.
Before presenting the play, students took a field trip to see ``La Boheme,'' at the Harrison Opera House in Norfolk. A docent from the Virginia Opera Association and a puppeteer from Spectrum Puppets, a Virginia Beach- based puppet company, visited their classes.
Four students in Synder's class - Jonathan Bulls, Keneisha Harden, William Shildt and Rafael Williams - designed and created the long, loose-jointed puppets for the production.
The students made five puppets: Beethoven; Beethoven's father; Christian Coblin, an early music teacher; and Haydn and Mozart, two other early composers. Crafted from clay faces and painted rolls of newspaper, the puppets wore bright suits made from scraps of cotton, satin and velvet emblazoned with gold trim.
Meaghan Montgomery, 10, a budding cosmetologist in Zambelis' music class, believes she could have made the puppets look prettier.
``I think I could have given them some tips to make the puppets' hair styles better,'' Meaghan said. ``I would have fluffed their hair up more and maybe put an unshredded ribbon in it.''
Zambelis believes the assignment helped the students build more than just knowledge of one of the world's greatest composers. ``It also enhanced their research skill and gave then the opportunity to work on their public-speaking skills,'' she said. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by JOHN H. SHEALLY II
William Shildt, left, Adrian Porter and Rafael Williams, students at
Booker T. Washington Elementary School, work the puppets they have
made for a show about Beethoven's life.
by CNB