It’s a school building kids are excited to enter.

“Did you see that? They ran, they didn’t walk. That’s how excited they are about this program,” said Mary Gonzales, director of Riverside Educational Center, an after-school program for kids of all ages.

A drum circle was added to the list of activities kids can participate in, and that’s where the kids were running to Tuesday afternoon.

Once a week, Celeste Herron comes to the Riverside School, where she shares her array of percussion instruments with students who’ve gathered around in a semi-circle for two hours of drumming.

“What started as an after-school program has evolved into a performing percussion ensemble. That happened because one day we were asked to do a short performance (on short notice) for parents and volunteers for a volunteer appreciation dinner,” Herron said.

For four weeks, Herron had taught various music theory concepts in a recreational format.

“It was simply to explore making music in a group, improvisationally and in the moment,” Herron said.

When asked if they wanted to do that initial “spur-of-the-moment” performance before parents and volunteers, the students agreed. They had one hour to prepare. Herron taught the students a traditional Nigerian rhythm.

“I found they learned more in one hour (than in the previous four weeks). They learned so quickly because they had purpose for what they were doing,” Herron said.

Today the group is performing twice — in Wingate Elementary’s school talent show, and at a Christmas party tonight for Child and Migrant Services.

After hearing her students talk about the drum circle, Wingate music teacher Margaret Hofer asked the group to perform in the school’s talent show.

“It’s a way for them to get up and shine in front of their peers. This is something they’ve really embraced,” Hofer said. “They’re really excited.

“I’ve seen a renewed interest in my classroom. They’re making that connection that music isn’t just something you do in school (for 25 minutes twice a week).”

Drummers range in ages from 8 to 16. Most attend Wingate Elementary School and live in the Riverside neighborhood. Herron’s son Kai Hurley, a homeschooler, is also in the group.

Twelve-year-old Aferny Reyes said he comes because, “Otherwise I’d be bored at home sometimes. And I want to have some fun.”

His 10-year-old brother Luis said being in the drum circle “is exciting, and it’s fun playing the music.”

There are always three or four different after-school “enrichment” classes to choose from at Riverside Educational Center on a Thursday. The children Gonzales serves are often limited in participating in extracurricular activities due to transportation and financial difficulties, she said.

A core group of eight students have stuck with the drum circle since September.

“Our goal is to nurture it so it can be part of a higher purpose — for performing, learning, strengthening their skills, and having it become a part of their identity,” Gonzales said. “There’s been such a high interest and involvement from the students.”

The Riverside Drummers, as they’ve begun to call themselves, will perform a recital at Mesa State College Feb. 24.

The group will be one-third of a program Feb. 27 at the KAFM Radio Room, when it joins Herron and a Grand Junction Symphony-sponsored drum circle called Talking Rhythms. Herron has worked with that group through the Grand Valley Musical Arts Association for five years.

When Herron first saw a drum circle comprised of elders and children, “conducted” by a woman at the Carbondale Mountain Fair four years ago, she knew she wanted to learn to do that.

“It was a group of ordinary people who had become a percussion orchestra,” Herron said.

Herron studied percussion from traditional drumming teachers at Boulder’s Naropa University, and from Village Music Circles in Santa Cruz.

Reach Sharon Sullivan at ssullivan@gjfreepress.com.