Like any fifth grader, Donte Spivey enjoys riding his bike. Unfortunately, what started out as a routine ride last month ended with a trip to the Emergency Room. Since that day, the Theodore Roosevelt student has been sporting a bright green cast from his left hand to his left elbow as his fractured arm heals. Usually a broken bone is an inconvenience for a few months; for Donte, it was a setback to him building his skills as a saxophone player in the 5th Grade Band.
“When I couldn’t play saxophone I was kind of sad because there was a concert coming up in May,” Spivey said.
Most kids would resume learning their instrument when the bone healed, trying their best to catch up on lost time. Donte isn’t most kids. Before his accident, Donte had already been thinking about trying a new instrument; after he ended up in a cast, he used his fractured arm as an opportunity to expand his musical talents.
“Before I broke my arm, I asked my grandpa to buy me a trumpet because I wanted to play both instruments,” Spivey said. “I thought the trumpet would be easier, but it’s not. I didn’t expect that I’d be good at it.”
Donte asked to join the Beginning Band at Roosevelt; his band teacher, Andrew Garrett, warned Donte it would be a lot of work, but agreed. For this aspiring musician, trumpet just wasn’t enough. He’s also taken on percussion in the Advanced Band, the typical interim instrument for students who are sidelined with an injury. And all this music is not without sacrifice: playing with both bands has required him to forfeit an extra recess (Donte’s choice) to rehearse.
“I left it completely up to him, everything was his idea. I didn’t think it was going to be a good idea at first, but he’s proven to me that it absolutely has been a good idea,” Garrett said. “I’m just blown away. For him to be that interested and take the lead on it is really rare; then, to do such a good job with it on top of that, is extremely rare as well. So it makes me feel really good as a teacher that he is so interested and dedicated.”
A student that started the year playing one instrument is now able to play three, but Donte Spivey has gained much more than a new knowledge of music and the talents that go with it. He’s also gained skills in perseverance, determination, innovation, and creativity. Little does he know, these are exactly what his music teachers, and the other staff at Theodore Roosevelt have been working to share with him and his classmates all along.