Students Provide Musical Treat for Care Center Residents

Students continue tradition of visiting residents at Carrollwood Care Center on Halloween.

IDS-CC third and fourth graders visited the Carrollwood Care Center on Halloween to offer a musical treat to residents.

Oct. 31, 2011 (TAMPA, Fla.) – As children everywhere knocked on doors on Halloween and received candy and other treats, third and fourth grade students at Independent Day School-Corbett Campus presented the gift of themselves to residents of a local care center as a special entertainment treat.

For more than 20 years, students have made an annual visit to the Carrollwood Care Center. Dressed in friendly costumes, they provided a musical program for the residents, as well as kind smiles and companionship.

"Visiting people in a nursing home can be intimidating," said Judy Sobel, the IDS-CC teacher who started the tradition when her own mother was a resident at the facility. "Yet every year, our students are able to dig down inside and give of themselves with genuine compassion and tenderness."

Music teachers prepared the students to sing a variety of songs selected especially for this audience. "We also prepared them to initiate conversation, to be good listeners, and to have an open demeanor towards the residents," said IDS-CC music teacher Michael LeBlanc.

It was a sweet Halloween treat without the trick.