The gentle harmonic chords cut through the often-raucous din, immediately turning students’ heads, stopping their talking and flipping their eyes and ears directly on their school leader.
It’s an unusual technique, said Sippel, learned from a national education program and one he shared with his teachers in the K-6 elementary nestled in a north-central neighborhood of Middletown.
“The harmonica is actually one piece of a much larger program we adopted three years ago,” said Sippel. “It’s a research-based (school) program used nationwide by many schools and districts.”
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There are many facets of the program, he said, “with the harmonica being an attention-getting device.”
Education research, he added, shows the use of a harmonica “is one of the few sounds that does not elicit some kind of trauma-based response.”
“For example, clapping to get kids’ attention or shouting or using an alarm bell … a lot of these things trigger students and remind them of something that may have happened that was harmful at home.”
“Obviously, the harmonica can be played aggressively but if it’s played softly, it’s a good attention-getting device,” Sippel said just before demonstrating the technique by quieting the school’s packed cafeteria with boisterous students by blowing a few, soft notes.
“And it’s not just me. We have harmonicas in every classroom and that’s the reason it works. It’s not because of my charisma or my skill in playing (harmonica), it’s the fact that we are doing it consistently in every classroom and every group.”
“We actually open the morning announcements (via school’s public address system) by playing harmonica tones so the kids can settle in,” he said.
Teachers were advised by Sippel not to overuse the harmonic tones in their classrooms.
“If you’re going to use the harmonica, have something to say. Don’t just play it because you are annoyed by the noise in the room.”
Central Academy math and science teacher Sammi Rathel said using a harmonica helps “really maximize our instruction time in the classroom.”
“I use the harmonica to get their (students) attention quickly and quietly. I’ve been able to get the attention of a 100 students at one time with just a single blow on my harmonica,” she said, adding “that’s why I have it right here on my lanyard.”
Looking back three years, employing the musical instrument has become a winning tune among both students and the school’s 27 teachers, said Sippel.
“It’s just standard practice now and it’s interesting that because of the nature of the sound and it being an unusual sound, it got their attention right away. All we needed to get was the consistency among all the teachers … and now we can depend on it to be effective.”
Journal-News Photojournalist Nick Graham contributed to this story.
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