Roughly 500 band students from across the LCSD gathered in the gym at Holy Rosary on Monday to celebrate and take part in Music Monday.Taylor Weaver Meridian Source
The halls at Holy Rosary were alive with the sound of music.
On Monday, roughly 500 band students from across the Lloydminster Catholic School Division (LCSD) gathered in the gym at Holy Rosary High School to take part in Music Monday.
Each year hundreds of thousands of children, youth, teachers, parents and community members from across Canada join together in harmony for the event.
“Music Monday is a Canada-wide celebration celebrating music in schools and encouraging music in schools, making sure we still keep that as part of our school environment and something for the students to learn and enjoy and share,” said Debbie Enstrom, a music teacher from École St. Thomas.
With all of the students playing the exact same song at the exact same time, it was an experience they will never forget, nor will Enstrom.
“It’s a big thing and was pretty magical. This is by far the biggest group I have conducted,” she said.
“I had a picture in my mind of what this was going to be like and it was more than I thought it was going to be. It was such a special opportunity for all of our band students.”
Enstrom also noted band students were fortunate enough to continue practising throughout the pandemic, which she described as special.
Since this was a division-wide event, the younger band students had the opportunity to play alongside some of their older peers, giving them more opportunities to learn.
“It’s a bit of a bonding thing; a buddy system,” she said. “It (also) comes down to experience and playing. Our younger students do look up to our older students and it gave our older students a chance to shine and show their leadership.
“It also gave a bit of security to our younger players; they felt a little safer playing and had someone beside them to help out if they need some help.”
Juliet Lake, a Grade 6 student from École St. Thomas and alto saxophone player, absolutely loved her experience on Music Monday and was proud of her peers for a job well done.
“It was fun, and surprising because we finally got to do it during COVID,” she said. “I feel like we did a really good job and it was a good time.”
Lake loves playing the saxophone as she said it’s a pretty cool instrument and the fingering isn’t too difficult.
“Also, my piano player plays it, so she can teach me more stuff,” she said.
