Drummers ready to Rock the Spectrum
A We Rock the Spectrum kids’ gym-goer gets ready to try out the equipment. Photo
After 14 years of running the Free To Be Me drum circle at the Hermosa Beach pier, Sabina Sandoval is taking her rhythm instruction indoors. Free to Be Me drum circle is an all volunteer, non-profit organization that helps children who are at risk, special needs children, and anyone else who needs help.
Last Saturday, Sandoval and partner Sharalle Horn opened, We Rock the Spectrum, a children’s gym franchise with over 70 locations, worldwide.
“Free to Be Me goes into prisons, visits terminally-ill, special needs kids and at-risk teens. We go in with a 100 drums and four or five heavy hitters and create this magical space of music where they can’t think about their pain,” Sandoval said. “I knew the minute I went into a prison and saw these men break dancing in the center of the circle that I had a way to help the world through my drumming. This gym is like a stepping stone from that.”
“I’ve been working with the Free To Be Me drum circle for eight years,” Horn said. “It was such a rewarding experience, being around a variety of children and families and just bringing joy to them,,” Horn said. “Also, I have triplet boys. They’ll be three in September. I wanted a place for them to feel loved and appreciated and be themselves.”
The gym will be open from 9 a.m. to 7 pm. Horn said she hopes to keep the gym open daily. Children 6 months and older are welcome at the gym with their parents or guardians. The gym will also offer classes for Zumba and karate for adults.
Horn and Sandoval want the gym to be a place for the children to be able to be themselves and feel safe, regardless of the troubles they may be facing in their lives.
“I want them to feel just pure celebration. I want them to be away from anyone who’s hurting them. It’s a magical space where they can be and act anyway they want. We’ll be there to help them. I want them to fly like Peter Pan,” Sandoval said.
Horn and Sandoval said they want children of all different ethnicities, social backgrounds, and physical and mental abilities to feel welcome.
“Everything is extra sensorial, based on motor skills and mental, and verbal skills,” Sandoval said. “Sometimes they have meltdowns so we have a quiet room. Our sign ‘For all kids.’”
Sandoval and Horn plan to bring in counselors who will offer mental, physical, occupational, and speech therapy.
“I want it to be a place in the community where people feel good about themselves,” Horn said.