Sheri Samson
“The Bashers” made the most of Rock Star Week at the Hawthorne Boys & Girls Club.
As Rock Star Week ended at the Hawthorne Boys & Girls Club, some of the kids came together to form their own make-believe band called, The Bashers. With lead singer, Joey, taking center stage with her sunglasses and a handmade microphone, her musicians and guitarists stood in formation behind her. Jordan, Fredd, Ramsey and Wesley were holding onto cardboard guitars they had made during craft-time. Raylynne patiently waited for her drumming skills to show on her box drum decorated with beads and paper. The band practiced and made promo posters as a surprise for volunteers that came through the week to teach music.
The music teaching included hand-held instruments and a fun learning program which incorporated the introduction of beats and rhythm; understanding tempos; showing notes and hearing pitch, while playing games to learn the concepts. Singing and dancing rounded out the week of musical expression.
Jeremy Burell was a guest guitarist, who came with his 12-string so the children could see him play and he allowed them each a couple of strums on the guitar strings to get a feel for playing a real guitar.
The children made musical shakers and cardboard guitars during their week’s art time, which reinforced their creative ideas and furthered their enjoyment of the theme. All of this proves, there is still creative fun in our Generation Z kid’s today. They can use their brains to create and play, even while pretending to be stars in a band.
