Participation also helps students learn teamwork and leadership skills as they drum in unison. The children assembled their own drums at the start of the course.

From 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, drummers will perform at Gateway Community College in New Haven, said Lorrie Driscoll, prevention specialist at Valley Substance Abuse Action Council.

"They were invited to perform after their presentation at the Inn at Villa Bianca in Seymour," Driscoll said, referring to a Martin Luther King Jr. diversity celebration Jan. 16.

Gateway President Dorsey Kendrick was keynote speaker at the dinner and enjoyed the drummers’ performance, Driscoll said.

The Ansonia group will bring extra drums for Gateway students who would like to join the performance.

"This will be a chance for the kids to interact with college students," Driscoll said.

At 1:30 p.m. Feb. 19, drummers will converge on Tele-Media Co. studios in Seymour to videotape a public service announcement.

"It’s a 30-second spot about substance abuse prevention," Driscoll said. "We are borrowing the script from the Office of National Drug Control Policy."

Drummers will play in the background, while Karen Dreyfuss of Simsbury, founder of Drums Not Drugs, does the voice-over, Driscoll said.

The drummers also will perform Feb. 26 during a multicultural event at Ansonia Middle School, said sixth-grade teacher Tameka Mack. Times have not yet been scheduled.

Last month, three drummers posed for a public service announcement poster. Eighth-grader Jackie Parks, sixth-grader Kenyon Beene and fifth-grader Sierra Roseboro are featured in the photograph with their instructor, Gerard Hector.

The photograph may be viewed at www.firstexperience.com, or in an exhibit co-sponsored by the Connecticut Association of Non-Profits and First Experience Communications at First Experience Studio, 3011 Main St., Glastonbury, through March 21.