HOULTON, Maine — Youngsters in Houlton and Katahdin schools will soon have some new instruments to play thanks to a collaborative effort with the Maine Department of Education and the Little Kids Rock organization.
The DOE announced Friday the selection of 10 Maine school districts that will be awarded instruments and resources necessary to run modern band programs in their schools.
Houlton Middle/High School (RSU 29) and Katahdin Elementary and Katahdin Middle-High schools (RSU 50) were among the 10 Maine districts selected to receive instruments. Schools were chosen by review teams who scored applications based on need, sustainability, and quality of proposed programing.
In order to be eligible for the pilot, school districts must serve 50 percent or more free or reduced lunch to qualifying students, and agree to offer modern band during the 2017-18 school year, taught by a certified music teacher.
“With this pilot program we are required to teach this class once a week for the whole school year,” Houlton Band Director Kevin Mania said. “This pilot will primarily be used for the middle school general music classes taught within the first two periods a day. I see two groups of kids for this class, on a rotating basis for one quarter, then two other groups come in after that. In all, I should see about 80 kids through this program for the first year. I hope to be able to also expand this to whoever might be interested in learning about playing in a group.”
This project, entitled “Maine Kids Rock!,” is a pilot program developed between the Maine DOE and Little Kids Rock, a national nonprofit that is dedicated to building a world where kids can live rich, purposeful lives by ensuring that all public school children have the opportunity to unlock their inner music makers.
Mania explained that he first had to participate in a webinar about the program in order to qualify for an application.
“There were teachers clear across the state that were in the initial webinar that explained the program,” he said. “Then I had to submit an application that explained how our music program operates, and every music class that we offer throughout the whole district. Listing how much contact time we have per week/month/year.”
Mania added this program could help lead to a shift in the types of music taught to students.
“The last time that a music program really looked at a shift in genre was when they introduced jazz bands back in the day,” he said. “They were first introduced to give the kids a chance to play current music when the likes of Buddy Rich, Gene Krupa were household names. It has been a long time since we have accepted the newest popular music in the school program.”
Under this initiative, students will have the opportunity to learn how to play an instrument that will reflect current times in the music that they listen to, whether it is country, pop, hip-hop or some other current form of music.
“I really think this will be a great opportunity in music education, and for kids,” Mania said. “This is in no way a replacement for band or chorus. This is an enrichment that will hopefully bridge the gap between students who did not have interest in band or chorus and give them a new fresh opportunity to learn about music and give them a life-long experience.”
Students who are into band and chorus will also find this program fun and fresh, he added as the program for Houlton will be called Modern Band, focusing primarily on music that is relevant to current times.
“I am so excited to have this opportunity and would encourage anyone to check it out,” he added. “The pilot is completely free to us. They will give us all the instruments, curriculum, resources, and support we need. They will also be sending me out for training in the program.”
For more information, visit www.littlekidsrock.org.
Attempts to reach Katahdin’s band director for comment were not successful.
