Drum Majors for Justice is a course that discusses what Drum Majors are and how it is an instinct that is in all of us. This is an instinct that is engraved in us and sometimes displayed sooner in others.
Deep down inside of each person this is a desire to be first, in the lead, or in the front and standing up for what they believed in or even a community that they are in.
The students in Dr. Katie Otis’ class will be teaching about history and the finest “drum majors for justice.” Students will also be doing volunteer work to become engaged citizens within their community. Many of the students in this course are trying to better educate their peers and community of what is happening around them and what they are doing to make it more aware.
“I enjoy the fellow students in the class,” says Alyson Bishop, a sophomore at WPU. “We all have different personalities and different passions that we all care about. It will be really fun to see how everyone carries out their projects and what they do to change the community.”
There is a main project that will be worked on throughout the semester that will be presented at the end that has to do with community outreach that they are passionate about. Many of the students have found a mentor in the surrounding area and begin setting developing their own community engagement.
Will Richardson, Peace senior, says that he will be volunteering at the Joel Lane House.
“One of my biggest joys I get out of volunteering, there is the delight I see in the eyes and smiles of the little children I teach to play with old style colonial toys, or how excited they get when they finish one of the punched tin ornaments I’ve shown then how to make,” said Richardson
Just like Richardson, many of the students in this course are working in a community that they feel a strong connection to or desire to inform the general public of events happening now.
“I’m planning on working with a group or community that revolve[s] around teaching and learning about the history of teaching since this has been a passion of mine and something that I want to do when [I] graduate,” says Jordan Smith, a junior at WPU.
Just as Richardson and Smith are both following a passion that they enjoy, there are some other students in the class that have also discussed some outreach projects that they will also be doing in the course of their community hours and finding mentors to learn from as well.
Tatiana Brown, Peace junior, is interested in volunteering at the NC Harm Reduction Coalition which will be offering rehab and other needs of people impacted by drug use that could lead to potential diseases transmitted through sharing needles.
The class is a great example of Peace Pacers contributing to their community.