FULLERTON : Entertainer Puts Learning to Music

Like a medieval minstrel, John-patrick Yeiser spends his days traveling from school to school in the county performing for audiences almost every day.

His appearances are as entertaining as they are educational, for he teaches folk music to physically and mentally handicapped children. And the music he plays and teaches ranges from guitar to scrub board, and from African and American folk to polkas and jazz.

In recent sessions with children at Woodcrest Elementary School, he encouraged his young audience to handle the instruments, dance or sing.

“I’ve been going to Woodcrest for I don’t know how long,” Yeiser said. “I give these kids a feeling that they’ve succeeded at something.”

The 160 children attending summer classes at Woodcrest include groups of preschoolers and pre-adolescents, and Yeiser is constantly on the move during the 40-minute sessions.

“Special (education) kids demand a lot of special attention,” Yeiser said. “With a lot of them, you have to help them hold the instrument.”

Said Woodcrest Principal Lourene Happoldt: “Through music and body language, they are able to participate.”

In one class, Yeiser led students through a cacophonous version of “Heidy Heidy Ho” using his electronic keyboard to keep the beat. The children joined in enthusiastically, banging and shaking instruments and clapping their hands.

“There’s learning going on here,” Yeiser said. “When they play back, it takes memory and cognition. They have to translate the sounds to their hands.

“In doing that, they are overcoming their handicaps,” he said. “They are overpowering their limitations. Every time you go over a limitation, it’s easier the next time.”

Most of the children say they look forward to Yeiser’s sessions.

“He’s a music man,” said Alison Eberly, 9. “I like to play music.”

Said 11-year-old Jennifer Jurek: “It’s fun. You get to play. You get to use your voice.”