Guitars in the Classroom

Guitars in the Classroom!

By Cyndi Conlow Olsen
Shasta Parent Magazine, August 2003
Used with permission

"When I realized my guitar could make an impact at school, I began to rethink how I played," says Pete Pembroke, "many studies show that music has a strong tie to math success. Furthermore, it fits perfectly with language arts and poetry writing. There's no question it is a powerful tool for teaching. But, I really just do it for fun and to spread the joy of guitar."

Pete is a fifth grade teacher at Chico Country Day School, a charter school in Chico.

"I learned classical guitar in the early 80's. I have been teaching in elementary education for four years. I use guitar regularly with my fifth grade class. We started working on playing and singing, both kids music and more traditional sing-a-long campfire stuff. I have songbooks in the classroom for each student and we write music to go along with the subjects we are studying. This year's fifth grade, two classes, just burned their own CD with five songs, all originals!"

With the help of other staff members, Pete also leads the school's, "All School Sing" every Friday. The whole school comes together on Fridays for a half-hour and sings traditional songs, as well as songs from each classroom. Pete and the music teacher, Kim Gimbal, lead the songs on guitar. "It's always fun," says Pete.

Last year Pete saw an article about 'Guitars in the Classroom' a non-profit grant program bringing music with guitars into the elementary school classroom, "low and behold, I have become the 'go-to-guy' here in the North State. I send out flyers through district mail to teachers and have now run two classes. They run for six weeks and are targeted at beginning guitar for teachers. It just takes what I already do in my class and spreads it to others. Six weeks isn't enough to learn guitar, but it certainly is a springboard to get started and enthused."

Pete designed a three-day adventure game at Chico's Bidwell Park. As part of the activities, the students were asked to write songs about various topics. "The kids came up with great stuff! I don't think that would happen with a class that wasn't as exposed to music as mine is. It is just such a part of their regular curriculum."

Earlier in the year Pete taught a unit on American Roots Music. "Why American music is unique and how the 'Blues' has grown through the bad times of slavery and despair. We then wrote a blues song; it's on our CD. We went to Laxson Auditorium at CSU Chico to see David Jacobs Strain, a professional slide blues guitarist. We sang our song for him. He played guitar for us, then he broke out singing our song! It was incredible, to hear a pro singing our song!

"Teaching for GITC is really easy for me because it really is just basic guitar designed for someone who wants to learn to play and sing in their classroom. It doesn't go into much theory -- good thing, because I'm not all that versed in it!"

"One of my guitar students, a special education teacher at McManus elementary in Chico, now plays regularly with her students. I went over one day and played with her. It was incredible to see her students singing and playing games while Tiffany played guitar. That is what it is all about."

For further information on the program, you can contact Pete Pembroke at 530-898-8478 or email him at pjpembroke@yahoo.com. Or visit the GITC web site at guitarsintheclassroom.com.

Cyndi Olsen is a freelance writer, columnist and children's health aid. Her background is in child development and nutrition. She lives in Cottonwood with her husband, Gary, and their four sons, Justin, Hayden, Dillon and Brady.