Pembina North Community School (PNCS) has received a $10,000 grant to purchase new musical instruments through the national Band-Aid Program.
PNCS, which is based in Dapp, was one of 69 schools across Canada to receive approximately $595,000 in grants, which are intended to equip school music programs with the resources they need to support their students’ musical talents.
The program is an initiative of MusiCounts, a national music education charity associated with the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS).
Among other things, the academy is involved in putting on the Juno Awards each year; in fact, the announcement was made as part of Juno Week, March 9-15.
The good news was shared with the students of the K-9 school during a March 12 assembly.
PNCS principal Darcie Eamor noted that in order to get the grant, letters of recommendation had to be written by several individuals, including associate principal Jason Wiks, Pembina Hills trustee Jackie Comeau, parent Karen Gabel and retailer St. John’s Music out of Edmonton.
“We had a lot of help from people who actually wrote letters on behalf of our school,” said Eamor. “This is the result of what you did.”
Elementary music/junior high band teacher Kendra Seatter said they were actually told about the program by a representative of St. John’s Music, noting that their current array of musical instruments — cobbled together from Jarvie School and W.R. Frose School in Fawcett — is quite old.
She looked into the program and submitted an application to the program along with a detailed inventory and a “wish list” of items.
Given that musical instruments can range in price from as low as $500 to as much as $2,500, Seatter said she had to consider carefully how to stretch the grant as far as she could.
“I spent a lot of time looking at our inventory and thinking about what we really need,” she said.
Seatter stressed that she didn’t want the money to be spent solely on the junior high band program; there will also be some benefit for the elementary students.
It is hoped that the new instruments will arrive at PNCS by the end of spring break, she noted.
Seatter said she heard that approximately 250 schools applied this year for grants, which was narrowed down to 69 recipients.
“We’re really fortunate that they chose us,” she added.
The music program is a big part of Pembina North Community School’s curriculum; Seatter works with the elementary students twice a week and junior high students daily.
“The goal is by the end of Grade 6, kids who have been in music for six or seven years ... will be reading and writing music by the end of Grade 6,” she said.
That way, when students enter junior high, they will not have to be learning how to read music in addition to learning how to play instruments, she said.
In addition to regular lessons, the school has also brought in outside musicians to work with the students and there will be musical experiences outside of PNCS, such as a K-3 trip to the Winspear Centre that will take place in late April.
Although not everyone is musically-inclined, Seatter said there is important lessons to be learned from studying music, such as learning how to be part of a team.
“We’re just so glad that Band-Aid is part of that for us,” she said.
