Georgetown elementary school students make "Mosquito Fire Blues" song about evacuating
GEORGETOWN -- A group of elementary school students created a song as a tribute to first responders and to reflect on evacuating their homes because of the Mosquito Fire.
"Mosquito Fire Blues" was created after a conversation with Brittany Barbour's first and second-grade class at Georgetown School of Innovation in Georgetown.
A parent, TK Chang, came to Barbour with an idea: create a song to help the young students, his son included, work through the trauma of being evacuated due to the Mosquito Fire.
With his producing partner, Chang found a beat to create an original song that the students could sing the chorus on together.
The school uses a social-emotional process called, Toolbox. Through this program, students can share how they feel in a sharing circle, and those thoughts are later revisited, if needed, for more processing at the end of the day.
School counselors and mental health resources are available for the students, too. These tools, the school's principal told CBS13 make all the difference.
"This is a really healthy way to bring closure to children that have big feelings from trauma," said Wendy Westsmith, Principal of Georgetown School of Intervention.
"I was worried, I was nervous… but faith like water washing fire be gone… don't take our homes." The song continues, with photos taken of the firefight, the signs of support, and the firefighters at work.
"I was really scared, and I was crying, and I was sad, and it was a lot for me and my mom," said Chloe Neet, a student.
Chang said the song was cathartic for adults, too. Writing the song and recording it with his son and the students, he said, helped him process the fears and anxiety that came with evacuating from their home for a week.