CANTON, Ohio — Music can be therapeutic for so many of us. It evokes certain emotions and often takes us to a special place. For one Canton City School District student, music has changed his life forever.
The students, faculty and staff at McKinley Senior High School say freshman Nehemiah Culver pushes them to be a better version of themselves each day.“When I’m playing, it feels like I’m actually on my own stage performing for thousands," Nehemiah said.The moment he picks up the guitar, he feels something more.The 15-year-old who was born with cerebral palsy always dreamt of playing guitar but didn’t know if it was possible.
Career and Technical Education Pre-Engineering instructor Chad Weaver and his students worked with guitar instructor George Dean to develop a custom assistive device that helps Nehemiah hold and play the guitar. Using 3-D printing modeling software to design it — and after trying out three or four different prototypes — they successfully landed on the right device.“This here mounts in and basically acts as the fingers then, and he can full-on strum," said Chad Weaver, CTE Pre-Engineering Instructor at Canton City Schools.Dean says watching him play has been a career highlight.Nehemiah even got to showcase his newfound talents at the school Winter Music Festival, leaving the audience in awe.
He tells his students it’s their civic duty to make people’s lives better through the devices they create, and they plan to continue to do so.Once he gets those down, he hopes to learn the piano in the near future.