Every Friday morning for 12 weeks last fall, 12 local 4th-8th grade students gathered at the Patagonia Volunteer Fire & Rescue’s upstairs loft to participate in a new program called “The Universe Within: Making Music,” offered by the Mat Bevel Company, an arts and science nonprofit.
The program culminated on Jan. 16 with a grand finale presentation by the students to a full house of family members and friends at the PVFR loft.
As ‘The Intergalactic Ensemble,’ the students put on an impressive display of music making, some from instruments they had crafted themselves. The audience learned about the history of the mountain dulcimer along with a dulcimer trio playing. The physics behind wind instruments was demonstrated and explained. Various percussion instruments—a popular mode with the kids—were used in many sizes and shapes. In one presentation, students used percussion, string, and wind instruments to add sound to an original music story they had created. Their model projects, employing strings, chimes, percussion, wind and mechanical movement to create music, showed an inventive combination of art and instrument making.
Throughout the weekly sessions, pupils actively engaged in a multitude of creative activities designed to “spark the natural creative genius in kids by combining STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) subjects, visual arts, and creativity,” according to the company’s mission statement.
Mat Bevel Company program director Paula Schaper explained the process and equipment the kids used to create rhythm machines and hand chimes. For the rhythm machines, “the kids used hardware, wrenches, 3D printed gears, a motor mount and hammer on a peg board base with a 360-degree motor and programmed Arduino (a software platform),” she said. “The machines change rhythm by adding or removing eight tickers. Afterwards the kids add finishing touches with paint, clay, jewels, vinyl decals to reflect the unique culture of their planets.”
During one of the last sessions in early December, the group began brainstorming ideas for ways to show their families and others what they had learned. With only two practices, they pulled together their smoothly run, final demonstration. One parent noted she was amazed at the kids’ understanding of the principles of how each instrument worked.
On presentation day, each student played and displayed their rhythm machine and the set of chimes they had made. Each machine and chime set looked different because of the artistic touches added by individuals, but the basic operation of every machine was the same.
Schaper has been facilitating “The Universe Within” courses since 2019. At the January presentation, Schaper said that she appreciated working out the quirks and problem solving with the group to create their instruments. Schaper works in conjunction with another teacher during each class. For the music unit that teacher was Mary Tolena, who has special musical expertise.
“This is Mary’s first time,” Schaper said. “She is very interested in music and the kind of teacher you hope every student gets to learn from—professional, knowledgeable and deeply committed. She brings care, curiosity and enthusiasm into every session, and has contributed enormously by strengthening the curriculum and sharing her wide range of musical instruments.”
Until 2024, the group met at Patagonia Elementary School. In 2025, the location changed.
“We moved from Patagonia Elementary to an out-of-school program when Patagonia Elementary and Patagonia Montessori moved to four-day weeks,” Schaper said. That way, “We could serve students from any school on those Fridays, including students who are homeschooled and students from Elgin Elementary. Patagonia Volunteer Fire & Rescue has generously donated space for the program.”
Other programs besides the “Music Making” unit that have been offered—and may be offered again in the future—include “Community Heroes” and “Creating New Worlds.”
In “Power Up Communities,” the current Friday morning unit that began Jan. 23, students are designing a sustainable “electri-city” using circuits, motors, batteries and the Arduinos software platform to power lights, sounds and moving parts. The unit will conclude with a public “Circus of Electricity,” where students will share their creations and show how energy and electricity help communities work and thrive.
Mat Bevel Company was created by the nonprofit’s founder Ned Schaper, Paula Schaper’s brother, in 1990. The program was developed and implemented in Patagonia and has also been taught at the Santa Cruz County School Superintendent’s Office Summer Camps. It is offered for free through a number of generous donors, mostly local, including The Burton Family Foundation/Patagonia Regional Community Fund, South32, Arizona Commission on the Arts, Sonora Investment Management and Steve Bowles.
For this school year, the program is further supported through a generous grant from Sulphur Springs Valley Electric Cooperative to help further expand the program in Southeastern Santa Cruz County and also to expand the program into Cochise County.