Wednesday, February 24, 2021
Pierce was a student of mine at T. G. Scott for a short time. I just learned of his untimely passing today and have been heartsick as I'm sure his family must be. Aside from being a happy and polite child I remember how involved he became in things he enjoyed. During our study of 3-syllable words a favorite was "percussion." We let our study branch into sound and music. From there we made our own percussion instruments out of "recycled" (another 3-syllable word and branch of study) materials we had gathered. The kids did a marvelous job and had lots of fun but when Pierce found out we were having a guest coming to our class who was a professional percussionist, he couldn't let it go at hand-made instruments. He asked if he could bring his own drum, to which of course I agreed. He got more and more excited as the countdown to our guest's visit continued. On the day of the visit Pierce burst into our trailer classroom and stood in the doorway. Without a word of greeting or anything else he began to beat the drum he had strapped around his back. As he continued, other students grabbed their hand-made drums and joined in the spontaneity. Before I knew it we had an all-out drum fest and Pierce began to chant along with the drumming. Soon others were chanting with him. It was the most glorious sound (and the first time I was glad we were shuttered off in a trailer at the edge of the school grounds!). He was always a joy to teach and I'm so terribly sorry for the family's loss and to hear this news. I'm sure Heaven welcomed a great band leader. Caroline LaBorde
