Assumption Jr./Sr. High School is testing a modern approach to the way they teach music, with the addition of three new audio courses.
The Lakeland Catholic School District (LCSD) board of trustees approved a three-course pilot program that will see their students produce music digitally for the first time.
“The audio 15, 25, 35, three credit course provides students the opportunity to create and collaborate ideas, thoughts, and feelings through audio production, and to develop a repertoire of skills they can apply in real life. Students use various technologies and develop an understanding of the audio production industry,” detailed Amanda Wildman, communications officer for LCSD.
The program is the first of it's kind in the region, and represents a complete modernization of the way LCSD offers music.
Students will be instructed by communications-technologies teacher James Morrison, who aims to give them an understanding of how the music they listen to every day is created.
“We actually have an amazing band program here, but it's very traditional. The way music is now, there's nothing traditional on when you turn on the radio. I think it's essential for kids to get a hands-on understanding of how we live in our country and how we produce our music,” explained Morrison.
The program is expected to benefit both experienced musicians and newcomers by affording them real world experience and providing them the tools to perfect the craft. Anything the students learn in the classroom will be a carbon copy of how the professionals do it.
Morrison has a background in the industry, and will be helping students produce professional quality songs out of their classroom.
“I used to be a radio DJ in Edmonton. I have a passion for music and I love helping kids record their own audio. There are actually a lot of different kids here who are amazing musicians. They want more exposure but they don't know how to record themselves, and produce their own music. They actually feel a little bit powerless,” explained Morrison.
Students will be able to apply what they learn to any genre or type of music they would like to create. The program is intended to instill fundamentals in students, so they're able to produce everything from polka to dub step.
Assumption will pilot the program, but LCSD hopes to expand it in the near future. This could provide their students a leg-up when it comes to similar post-secondary programs.
“Quite frankly, there aren't a lot of programs for kids to learn this. It's a very elitist industry, where you basically have to go to a production company. With the technology being accessible now, kids can do a lot of this stuff at home, and they don't have to pay crazy amounts of money,” Morrison said. “As for secondary education this opens the door for a lot of amazing programs. I know NAIT offers a lot of really cool stuff.”
The launch of the program represents the end of a long lobbying process to bring digital audio programming to the district. Now that they have it, LCSD hopes to expand its reach to fill a longstanding void in the curriculum.
“This is very unique. I've been trying to teach audio for seven years, and this is the first time I've been able to teach it,” Morrison said. We were able to work with the Edmonton Public School Board, they wrote the curriculum for us. Before that, there was an empty space in the curriculum, there was nothing for digital production. With any luck, we'll be able to send this off to other schools in the division.”
