On March 8, 2017, WMS students got to view and participate in a Taiko drum assembly.

Taiko is Japanese for big drum. In the assembly, the drummers played a number of drums and cymbals. There were taikos (big drums), chū-daiko (medium drums), and Shime-daiko (small drums. During the assembly the performers played three songs, “Ki” (気) which means life force, Hochiooji (八王子) which is a battle song inspired by a town in Japan, and Matsuri (祭り) a festival song.

Following their performance, the drummers went over how to use the drums and count the beats. Five students were then selected from the audience to participate and play the drums. Reston James and Chelsea Cockrell learned to play the taiko drums, Cameron Powell played the chū-daiko, and Kaycie Hamilton and Daweson Bucknell were on the Shime-daiko. While they played, the audience clapped along and shouted during the rests.