Love of Rock Music Starts Early at Cedar Island Elementary
At one Maple Grove elementary school, two Osseo Area Schools teachers are fostering a lifelong love of music with their modern rock band.
Unlike a traditional elementary school band, they’re teaching students rock band instruments. That’s right– drums, guitar, bass, percussion and even vocals.
The kids meet in music specialist Stefan Wolf’s classroom every Friday before the school day starts. Their band is called the Wolf Pack.
Michael Fruncillo, a PE teacher at Cedar Island, also helps with the band. He said it’s giving kids a valuable skill.
“The kids are learning tactile skills that they don’t necessarily see everywhere else in their life in the way that they used to,” Fruncillo said. “They come and they learn how to twist pegs to tune a guitar. They learn how to hit drums, they learn how to set things up and break them down. It’s all those skills– it’s wonderful.”
Fruncillo isn’t usually a music teacher except when it comes to the modern band. He and Wolf say they were inspired by both of their history of playing in bands.
“As a former musician myself, not professional but amateur musician, hobbyist,” Fruncillo said. “You get into education, and you deam up these kind of dreams: ‘What if we did this?’ ‘Wouldn’t it be cool?’ And so, to see the fruition of that, it just really makes my day. And makes coming to work all the more wonderful.”
Wolf and Fruncillo coach the modern band members as they run through practice.
Playing to their Strengths
Cedar Lake’s parent-teacher organization bought the instruments for the band. The kids started in the band at the beginning of the school year. It’s made up of fourth and fifth graders, who are responding to Wolf and Fruncillo’s coaching with enthusiasm.
The kids get to pick the songs they play, too. On Friday, they rehearsed a version of “We Didn’t Start the Fire” that they wrote some custom lyrics for. The kids also rehearsed “Three Little Birds.” Ben Wisker and Henrik Dobson are two fourth graders who play the keyboard in the band. They both say the band is a lot of fun.
“I think it’s been challenging, but also if we come together and make the song it’s very, very fun,” Dobson said.
Fifth-grader Rolland Kidwell plays guitar– he began learning just a week before school started. He said he enjoys playing “Eye of the Tiger” with the Wolf Pack.
“Sometimes, you just feel the energy rise!” Kidwell said.
Fifth-grader Dana Fasching is also on the keyboard. She said she’s enjoyed getting to know everyone in the band and playing “Eye of the Tiger.”
“I love learning how to expand my skill!” Fasching said.
Fourth-grader Rolland Kidwell practices part of a song on the guitar. He’s one of the inaugural members of the Wolf Pack.
A Lifelong Love
Most of the kids started playing their instruments this school year. If you look around the classroom, the kids are playing these songs without sheet music. As their instructor, Wolf said their hard work is inspiring. The songs they’ve quickly mastered, as well as the culture they’ve created, are both a part of it.
“Their enthusiasm is just super great. It makes me want to keep doing it,” Wolf said.
This is the first year of the band. To Wolf, fostering a love for music is just the beginning. It ties modern music to classics and gets kids interested.
“I think that’s really, really important. If kids are going to be invested in their schooling and invested in their education, they have to want to do it. And relevant music and relevant stuff is really important for that,” Wolf said.
Wolf also won Elementary Music Educator of the Year from the Minnesota Music Education Association this year.
