DENVER — A new program at South High School in Denver is making sure every student has the chance to learn to play an instrument in the band.
In South High's music room, this band has its own beat.
Junior Kelis Brown said her passion for playing trombone didn't come right away.
"Not at first. But, the trombone looked so easy to play," Brown said.
Hitting the right notes takes time. Brown laughs, knowing getting sound out of the mouthpiece was the first step.
"Yes, it's just like using the lips and makes my lips sore all the time. So it's like, 'Ahh.' So I have to take breaks sometimes," Brown said.
Student mentors like Leo Stone are here to help.
The group gathering Thursday mornings is the school's new band program, called United Sound. It matches musicians like Stone with students with disabilities who want to play.
"It's really, really cool. It's a little difficult at times but it's really rewarding to see them improving and like, all of the students have already shown a lot of progress," Stone said.
Progress here comes in a number of ways.
"And he's already begun to trust me and my other peer mentors in our group a lot more," Stone said of one student. "Like, the first week he was very quiet, he didn't talk to us at all. And now, he high fives us and nods to me in the hallway and stuff."
"Yeah, these students have gone from maybe just being in the back of the room or being in another class to being included. And they get to know each other. They know their names, they know what they're capable of," said Kyle Dobbins, band and orchestra director at South High. "It's been very special."
Dobbins said he first heard about the United Sound program a few years back at a conference and became interested in bringing the program to students at South. They took the idea to the special education teacher at the school and put together a plan to introduce the class here.
In United Sound class, Dobbins said each student learning to play has three mentors working with them, playing along with them and teaching them as they go. It helps connect them with the music and one another. And students are racing through the lessons, picking the material up quickly.
"It shows what these kids can do, too, they're very capable," Dobbins said. "I think it's why we started this program, too, is a lot of people say, 'Well these kids can't do it.' When in fact, they're very talented, they're very capable and they just need that chance and opportunity to participate."
That message is striking a chord for the students in this room. Their drive is inspiring a deeper love for music for everyone in the room.
"It's so fulfilling," Stone said. "Like, I love music so much. It's all I want to do with my life. And the idea of being able to give that to people who are struggling with anything or just have a lot going on and having that escapism for them and building that, it's beautiful to me."
The United Sound band is part of a national program to connect students with disabilities to band. Dobbins believes the program at South High is the first of its kind in Colorado.
Next month, at the end of the semester, United Sound will perform for the first time at South High's winter concert.