Before coming to Boissevain, Pokrant did short-term teaching of high-school band in Dryden. She is a graduate of the music and education programs at Brandon University, gaining her Masters in Jazz Performance in Trumpet in 2017, while working as a substitute in Brandon and Fort la Bosse School Divisions. In Boissevain, she said the band program is not large, but it is growing.
“While our numbers might not be sky high, they are substantial, and the musicality of these students far outweighs numbers on a page. We are very much quality over quantity here, but perhaps one day we can be both.”
She has a Grade 6 band, a Grade 7 band, a Grade 8 band and a 9-12 combo. Pokrant says she loves teaching to different age groups, and it is not as different from one to the other as people might think. As she explained, it is similar to athletics in how you learn a skill and then continue to use that skill as you develop.
“I can teach concepts to my 9-12 band that I turn around and teach to my Grade 6 band right after,” Pokrant explained. “It’s in a slightly different way and there are different levels of expectations, but there are a set of fundamentals that we continue to work with and build on as students progress through the band program.”
One way to attract students to band is to make an impression on them at a young age. When she first came to Boissevain School, Pokrant found she would be teaching Grade 5 music, which she had never done before. She brainstormed to find a way to make the year worthwhile, and while discussing the issue with other music teachers in the area, she decided to try out the Exploratory Band Program, which was successful elsewhere. They rented instruments from St. John’s Music in Winnipeg and every student in Grade 5 had the opportunity to try out five different instruments – flute, clarinet, trumpet, trombone, alto sax – and experience what a band rehearsal would feel like. This led to 80% of students moving on to Grade 6 band, many of whom admitted they would not have done so if they had not been introduced to it in this way.
“This year I am finding the Grade 6 band is advancing really quickly. The majority of the students are quite comfortable on their instruments, and they really do seem as if they are two to three months ahead of your typical Grade 6 band.”
Pokrant said she is looking to continue the program this year in the new semester. She gives credit to Principal Stephanie Emberly, TMSD Superintendent Tim De Ruyck and the Music Boosters for helping to make it possible.
On the other side, it can be a challenge to keep older students interested and involved in music. Sometimes it is just passing phases for young people, or a clash of work or extracurricular commitments. However, it can also be academic. Sometimes choices must be made between classes, as they are held at the same time, and band can lose out to courses like biology or chemistry.
Pokrant said this is an issue for all arts classes, not only here but across the country as a whole. She said she tries to show her students that she is committed to the program and to them as individuals. In one year at the school, Pokrant said she has seen a rise in interest and commitment, and she hopes she can show students as well as staff and the community as a whole that music is a worthwhile subject “that helps foster so many great characteristics of humanity, not the least of which include compassion and kindness, teamwork and problem solving, dedication, motivation, independence and tenacity.”
She added she hopes they can build a mentorship program through the student executive, which would allow older students coming into the younger band classes to lead sectionals and help them become more comfortable with their instruments. Pokrant feels it would make them feel a part of the “band family” and keep them coming back.
They usually do two concerts per school year, and also go to festivals around the country. This year, the senior band will be attending the Optimist Festival in Winnipeg, the Grade 6 band will go to Level One in Brandon and the 7 and 8’s will be attending a Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra performance. They also have the opportunity to take part in Music Monday, the first Monday every May, which happens in the school gym.
Pokrant feels the music program adds a great deal to the student experience.
“There is an amazing feeling that comes after you work incredibly hard for a long time and something comes together to sound beautiful. That feeling is a combination of success, pride and fulfillment. Band is truly a family. We work together, we create together, we drive each other crazy, and most of all we learn how to respect each other all while making music and becoming better people.”
by PAUL RAYNER, Recorder staff