Beamz at Phoenix Children's Hospital

During the week of July 6-10 of 2009, Phoenix Children’s Hospital outreach program at “1 Darn Cool School” held its annual daily “Summer Music and Art Camp.” Program director and head instructor Megan Goodman invited Jerry Riopelle and his assistant Becky Byrkit of Beamz Interactive, Inc. to participate in the camp, in order to spend afternoons demonstrating the Beamz Interactive Music System. Their function was to entertain the children who were patients in the hospital, expose them and their parents to the Beamz and its capabilities, train patients and hospital personnel on the Beamz, and broaden Jerry and Becky’s understanding of the therapeutic value of the Beamz in a hospital setting.

http://www.phoenixchildrens.com/patients-visitors/1-darn-cool-school/

Beamz Interactive, Inc. was named by Megan as “an unofficial sponsor” of the art and music camp in her promotional materials. On the last day of camp, Friday, July 10, Jerry and Becky also brought along Becky’s brother, Universal Studios artist and film director Jim Byrkit, who was responsible for original concepts and rendering of characters and animated scenery in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie series. As Jerry conducted (a continuation of) demonstrations of the Beamz system to intrigued children (ages 5 to 17), Jim and his wife Alethea gave drawing lessons to the patients. At one point during the session a group of visiting characters of the Star Wars film series also visited the schoolroom. The atmosphere was wonderful: lively and fun, full of music and art and cheerful children. Megan said they’d never seen a day in their school quite like that one. 

Jerry Riopelle enjoys a longstanding relationship with the PCH, as he introduced his Beamz system (including a set specially designed for limited-mobility or bed-bound players) several years ago. He and his son Paul have been frequent visitors to the hospital, replacing Beamz sets and computers and updating songs, as well as re-training personnel and interacting with patients. Megan feels that the Beamz work for the children and their parents on a number of levels. She has noted that the Beamz assist limited-mobility patients with simple, repetitive, and musically rewarding actions, which helps on numerous therapeutic levels. Autistic children tend to focus on the Beamz, and children dealing with anxiety and separation issues can be distracted, musically and intellectually, with the help of the Beamz, for lengthy periods of time. Long-term patients tend to “bond” with the Beamz and make ongoing discoveries with their capabilities.

Megan feels strongly that other facilities such as hers would be interested in Beamz systems in order to enjoy similar benefits. Megan says she thinks this would be welcomed especially by the parents of long-term patients who have bonded with the Beamz and would like to have sets in their home, for ongoing therapeutic value.