Music made by Tampa elementary school drum line is ‘heartbeat of the community’

TAMPA, Fla. - The music teacher at Lockhart Elementary Magnet School in Tampa is helping the school’s drum line prepare for a special performance. 

"My whole thing is just teaching what I love to do," shared music teacher Kevin Lyons.

Lyons, who is in his mid-50s, started playing the drums at the age of 6, and says he won’t be giving up anytime soon.  

He says when he moved to Florida, it was the first time he had a full-scale drum line at the elementary level.

The drum line at Lockhart Elementary School says its music is the heartbeat of the community. 

"Elementary is a whole different challenge. I realized, of course, you have to take a whole different approach with these children, especially children in this community," Lyons said. 

He says it involves a lot of discipline because you have to discipline yourself enough to practice. 

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"These kids are marching too," he explained. "They get the full blast of it — standing commands, movement commands and discipline to not only be able to do the marching but play your part at the same time."

Lyons says it’s a unit of bonding that can be dated back to different countries in Africa when drums were used to communicate. 

"I tell them that you are communicating with your community when you’re playing. The little things that we play is touching someone’s spirit and that’s what drums do — touch your spirit, touch your soul. 

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"We here at Lockhart, our drum line should coincide with the heartbeat of the community…We talk about the man, Martin Luther King Jr., who was called the drum major for justice. We all know that he fought for justice, not just for Black people, people of color, but for all people. If there was an injustice for anybody, he was there for it."

Being a part of Lockhart Elementary School's drum line takes discipline. 

"The purpose behind our performance is just to show the community how much we love what we do, and we want to leave the community in our love, in our strive toward equality, peace, respect, honor and all the things Martin Luther King stood for."

The students will be performing at Plant City's 37th annual MLK parade on Saturday and the Tampa MLK parade on Monday.