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Snowboarding meant electric guitars and percussion for two classmates, and bobsledding for another pair meant drums - lots of drums.
Students at Exeter's Reiffton School celebrated the Winter Olympics with music they composed and performed on homemade instruments.
The music-filled Olympic ceremony on Friday ended a five-week session with Tina Davidson, artist in residence.
Davidson of Marietta, Lancaster County, worked with a core group of 18 sixth-graders before school, helping them build instruments out of recycled materials. She taught them to write music with graphic notation and helped them compose their own songs inspired by Olympic sports.
Bri, 12, who was inspired by ice dancing, learned she can express herself with music.
"When you compose music, you're composing your expression," she said.
Davidson also met with the entire sixth-grade class to make instruments and learn about composition. Students made coffee can drums, cardboard-dowel rain sticks and xylophones out of sticks and pipes.
The dedication and perseverance of Olympic athletes should be an inspiration to the entire school, Davidson said.
"The thing about the Olympics, you're all capable of that kind of thing when you find your gift," she said.
During Friday's event, Davidson led the school of nearly 700 students in an Olympic symphony. One group made wind noises, another called out the pitter-patter of rain and another sounded like the woosh of quick skis.
During the individual performances, sixth-graders Ricky Wike, 12, and Chris Ambrosi, 11, got a big round of applause for their song, "Snowboarding Victory."
Ricky shook a container filled with beads, while Chris played a milk jug drum and then switched to an electric guitar.
"I thought it was kind of interesting, learning about the instruments," Ricky said.
Sixth-grader Kira Shultz, 11, plays guitar and is a big Taylor Swift fan. She strummed her acoustic guitar in a figure-skating composition.
"I feel that I got a lot out of it because now I think differently about becoming a composer or doing something different in the music business rather than playing your guitar," she said.
After the musical performance, students at the Reiffton Olympics "speed skated" across the gym on paper plates. Students representing Estonia, Latvia, Great Britain and Australia won the gold medals.
Teams of teachers raced one another on bobsleds made from gym mats and scooters.
Students had some practice, spending the last month doing Olympic events, such as skating, curling and ice hockey, in gym class.
Contact Erin Negley: 610-371-5047 or enegley@readingeagle.com
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