Milestones Day School welcomes “Recycled Percussion” for a special performance of their “Chaos and Kindness” act
November 29, 2023
Watch the video of the Chaos and Kindness act performed at Milestones Day School.
WALTHAM–Milestones Day School was thrilled to welcome the internationally acclaimed band Recycled Percussion, a former top-10 act on “America’s Got Talent” that went on to perform in Las Vegas and at the Super Bowl, for a special surprise performance at the special education school on November 9th.
Recycled Percussion, featuring cousins Justin Spencer and Ryan Vezina of Goffstown, N.H., specializes in taking any items they can find–including wastebaskets and trash cans–and turning them into musical instruments. They brought their ultra-high-paced “Chaos and Kindness” act to the school and transition program for a 45 minute performance that awed, inspired, and delighted Milestones students and staff.
“We were thrilled that Milestones had the opportunity to host Recycled Percussion in this exciting, one-of-a-kind show and students and faculty were invited to participate interactively as audience members,’’ said Milestones CEO Kimberly Rockers. “It was amazing for our students to observe the music Justin and Ryan could create with various items found in our classrooms, and they both were wonderful about sharing with students how pursuing drumming helped them develop passion and focus in school.”
As Justin Spencer told Milestones students: “You can use anything to be creative, to change your life.”
After their initial success on America’s Got Talent in 2009, Recycled Percussion went on to become one of the most successful acts on the Las Vegas Strip for 10 years in a row. The band has performed more than 7,000 shows worldwide and appeared on 40 popular TV shows, including The Grammy Awards, the Super Bowl, MTV Reality Awards, and Comedy Central’s “The Gong Show.”
Since 2017, Recycled Percussion has produced a television show on ABC called “Chaos and Kindness” that has won 15 Emmy Awards. Spencer and Vezina have built Chaos and Kindness into a retail and lifestyle brand promoting kindness, positivity, and mental health awareness.
The performance at Milestones was scheduled as a preview of Recycled Percussion’s participation in the town of Plymouth’s Thanksgiving Parade on Saturday, November 18.
Seeing and hearing Recycled Percussion live, at their school, will be a memorable highlight for participating Milestones students and staff. “Honestly, I’ve never seen somebody’s hands move that fast in my life,” said one awed student.
Recycled Percussion’s visit to Milestones also was featured on WCVB-TV (Ch. 5) in a special segment with Weekend Evening Anchor Jennifer Peñate: https://www.wcvb.com/article/reality-show-stars-surprise-mass-students-ahead-of-plymouth-parade-debut/45879046
Milestones has approximately 90 students, aged 7 to 22, with ASD, ADHD, learning disabilities and/or mental health challenges, and 95 multidisciplinary staff, who participate in a year-round 216-day program. Students participate in customized academic instruction with embedded therapeutic programming and transition skill development that is specialized according to the unique needs of each student.
“Milestones is centered on providing our students with a comprehensive education by balancing stimulating academics with teaching new and appropriate therapeutic skills,’’ Rockers said. “Besides being novel and so much fun, the visit from Justin and Ryan with Recycled Percussion really reinforced the value of kindness for our students, which ties to our school’s core values. It also demonstrated the power of creative thinking and learning how strong you can become at drumming–or another skill or interest–with hard work, dedication, and lots of practice.”
Article in the Waltham Patch, Alex Boonstra, posted November 21, 2023