School house rock ‘n roll: Elementary school club brings music to the classroom

A group of a rock ‘n roll loving elementary students in Windsor is thriving after the COVID-19 pandemic paused the school’s extracurricular band.

The rock band club has been a tradition at St. Gabriel Elementary School since 2008, attracting new talented musicians.

“We're very happy to be back rockin’ again,” said teacher Edward Leblanc.

The group has dusted off favourites like Nirvana’s Smells like Teen Spirit and Journey’s Don’t Stop Believing.

“Had to kind of shake the rust off and try to relearn some tunes but other than that, it's kind of, you fall right back into it pretty easily,” said Leblanc.

Leblanc said the band was only recently revived after two and a half years of not being able to rehearse together or perform.

“There's nothing that replaces being together in a room with a group of musicians and you're playing off each other and listening to each other. I always try to talk about listening to other people,” he said.

Now, the sound of music fills the hallways after class, with Leblanc hoping the young musicians will pursue their musical passion.

“Every year it's evolved a little bit,” Leblanc explained. “This year for example, we'll be graduating out all our Grade 8 guitar players so we'll have to recruit again next year.”

“It's really fun,” said Grade 8 student and electric guitar player, Desmond Palamides.

“I started playing guitar in Grade 4, and I just I loved it a lot.”

“You gotta try it,” he said. “You gotta go for it. And keep practicing.”

According to others, like singer Alina Plante, there’s a sense of friendship and camaraderie that comes with being in the band, noting a lot of other students have expressed interest in trying out.

“Definitely it makes the kids very happy,” Plante told CTV News. “They're very excited when we do our assemblies. But it's really fun. Practicing is one of the funnest parts because we're all like really good friends. So we just hang out and have a laugh and then we learn how to learn all our new songs and get better.”

“It lets me express more of my creativity,” Plante continued. “I don't really like singing in front of people, so rock band has allowed me to do it with my friends and be creative and dance around and do all my stuff while singing.”

Meanwhile, the current crop of rock band members will continue practicing and performing throughout the rest of the school year.

“The goal is fun,” Leblanc added. “I would say the number one goal is having fun. I think first and foremost, if it's not fun, none of us would be here.”