By Dana Dzubas
Elgin public school students will be singing the blues next week.
Along with 21 other Ottawa schools, Elgin will bring blues musicians to its classrooms, in a program dubbed Blues in Schools.
Terry Davies, the principal of Elgin Street School, credits blues musician Maria Hawkins for inspiring the school to apply for the program this year.
“She came here out of the goodness of her heart and did a workshop. The students loved it and the teachers thought it was great,” says Davies. “Music is one of our focuses and this is an excellent opportunity for enriching students.”
Michelle Armstrong’s Grade 2-3 class got a taste of Blues in Schools through Hawkins’ 45-minute presentation last year. It included information on black history, the way blues music developed from slaves calling to each other in the fields and how they brought the music with them to Canada on the Underground Railroad.
Then Hawkins brought in her bass player as well as her guitarist and showed the blues to the students.
She even got them to make up their own blues song by setting their words to the music the band was playing.
“It was fabulous, the kids loved it,” says Armstrong. “I mentioned it to the principal who thought it was a great idea and got in touch with Blues in Schools to invite them back.”
The school is so excited its involvement in the program this year, that it recently held a “blues day” as a prelude to the arrival of the musicians. Music played most of the day and students were encouraged to draw “what the music told them.” And of course, everyone had to wear blue.
The program teams blues musicians from all over Canada and the U.S. with local artists.
But this year, the program not only brings instrumentalists to Ottawa, but also gospel singer Sharon Riley and photographer and archivist, Dick Waterman, who captured some of the greatest African-American blues artists on film.
More local artists are also involved this year, including Tony ‘D,’ Trevor Finlay, Steve Lund and The Mighty Popo.
Hawkins is thrilled by the additions. “Now I have a team (of local artists) and it’s great. For the last two years, it’s been me and one other person,” says Hawkins.
Laurie Giamaria, co-ordinator of the Blues in Schools program says it is important to team the local artists with visiting ones like T.J Wheeler and Otis Taylor so the locals can learn to run the program without bringing in other artists.
Elgin Street will have all 180 of its students participate in the first week of workshops.
Only Tara Sheridan’s Grade 5-6 class will participate in more hands on activities the second week with Suzie Vinnick and Tony ‘D.’
Tara Sheridan is excited about the opportunity her class has to play with a professional blues musician.
“This is an experience that none of them will have the opportunity to have again,” says Sheridan.
But Blues in Schools teaches students more than music, it teaches them about themselves. It helps them gain self-confidence through realizing talents that they didn’t know they had, says Giamaria.
Sheridan agrees with the idea.
“If we can take one or two students that are struggling academically, hook them on music and interest them in learning, we might be able to change their lives; wouldn’t it all be worth it?” says Sheridan.
Sheridan prepared her class for this exciting opportunity, by reading Underground to Canada by Barbara Smucker with her class, so that they better understand slavery and how Canada allowed slaves into our country to escape their suffering.
It is expected that the program will reach about 4,000 students this year.
Last year they reached 12 schools and 1,000 students. In 1999, the first year the program ran in Ottawa-Carleton, only two schools participated.