local schools - WKTV Journal

Drum major Sofia Daniel directs the band during a school day rehearsal (Courtesy, Deborah Reed WKTV)

By Deborah Reed

WKTV Managing Editor

deborah@wktv.org

East Kentwood High School (EKHS) band directors Mike Gozzard and Sho Dembinski strive to make music a memorable and welcoming experience for each of their 200 students.

“Even if kids don’t continue in music after high school, we’re just trying to make their experience as good as possible while they’re here, making sure they know they are welcome and that they have fun,” said Dembinski.

A love of music instilled in the next generation

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is IMG_7910-scaled-e1696341806203-1024x903.jpg — Students practice their show outside each day (Courtesy, Deborah Reed WKTV)

The last two years have brought heartache and necessary adjustments to the EKHS band family.

In May 2022, Kentwood Bands lost their beloved director, Marshall Werling, to cancer. Through his time at EKHS, Werling passed on a lasting love of music to the students.

“Music has always been a very big part of my family, but also the teachers who have led me here,” said Sofia Daniel, drum major and junior at EKHS. “Especially Mr. Werling. He and Ms. [Natalie] Sears were a very big part of why I love music.”

Daniel went on to say that she has always had a positive experience with the EK band program, whether that experience came from new friends or a connection with a teacher.

Bringing a community together

Directors Gozzard and Dembinski continue to bring students of all backgrounds and activities together through the band program.

“The thing I like the most is that [the program] is diverse in the typical meaning of diverse, but also in other meanings,” said Dembinski. “For example, we have kids that do cheer, football, and do other clubs and robotics and things like that. It’s cool to see them come together and do one thing.”

Jennifer Pham enjoys all genres of music (Courtesy, Deborah Reed WKTV)

Daniel agrees, saying she enjoys being in a class where everyone likes music. “It’s a kind of family of people doing what you love as well,” said Daniel.

EKHS junior and flute/piccolo player Jennifer Pham says sharing her love of music is important to her.

“Music has always been a big part of my life,” said Pham. “I love listening to it in my free time, so the chance to be able to play something and share my love of music is something that I like.”

Pham participates in marching band, concert band, jazz band, and combo groups. Though flute is her main instrument, Pham recently learned bass for jazz band.

“I like that there are so many opportunities we are given,” said Pham. “Although you have to pick an instrument, just because you pick something now doesn’t mean that you can’t learn another one later.”

Pham says she will keep music in her life even if she does not choose it as a career path.

Finding the right niche

Raul Aquino-Gonzalez, trumpet player and EKHS senior, joined band because his brothers had also been in the program. But Aquino-Gonzalez didn’t feel a connection to music right away despite saying the atmosphere was inviting.

Aquino-Gonzalez plans to study jazz in college (Courtesy, Deborah Reed WKTV)

“Last year is when I really began to get into it, and I really started trying to get better,” said Aquino-Gonzalez. “I just loved it from then on.”

The catalyst for that change of heart?

“I joined jazz band, and I think that was the spark,” Aquino-Gonzalez said. “That’s when I would spend hours every day playing and trying to get better.”

Aquino-Gonzales recently formed a jazz group outside of school that performs for different events, including the school’s fall play.

A legacy of lasting relationships

While Dembinski and Gozzard work to ensure a certain level of proficiency in all students – and they see improvement in musicianship each year – Dembinski said the first week of band camp is his favorite part of every year.

A family atmosphere forms strong ties between students (Courtesy, Deborah Reed WKTV)

“My favorite time of year is the first week of band camp when all the freshmen come here for the first time,” said Dembinski. “We work a lot with the section leaders and the leadership, trying to make everyone feel welcome. We do a bunch of games during camp to make sure all sections of the band are one big family.”

Dembinski said that he sees close ties form between students, and knows many of them will last.

“There are a lot of lasting relationships,” Dembinski said. “I see it all the time. Most of my closest friends are friends from high school band or college band.”

A show all ages can enjoy

That sense of relationship is demonstrated in the Home title and theme of the EKHS 2023 marching band show.

There is still time to see the 2023 marching band performance (Courtesy, Deborah Reed WKTV)

Featuring artists from Michigan, the show incudes “Lose Yourself” and “Not Afraid” by Eminem, “Juice” by Lizzo, “Bring It On Home To Me” arranged by Roy Hargrove, and “I Wish” and “Superstition” by Stevie Wonder.

Dembinski said some college marching band shows have also recently featured a home theme.

“We liked the idea, we just wanted to put our own spin on it with the music we picked,” said Dembinski.

Picking music everyone enjoys, however, is not easy.

“If you pick new music, students like it but parents don’t,” said Dembinski. “If you pick ‘old music’ from the 70s and 80s, parents like that but students don’t. This show has a bit of both.

“I’ve heard band parents say they really like the Eminem section, and every time I leave class, students are playing Stevie Wonder,” Dembinski continued. “It surprised me a bit. But I think this show has something that everyone can jam out to.”

Experience the magic of music

The EKHS marching band show can be seen at the Hastings Invitational Oct. 7, the EKHS home football game Oct. 13, and the East Kentwood Invitational Oct. 21.

Dembinski encourages the community to attend the invitational and experience performances from schools all across Michigan.

“You get to see our band, but also a bunch of other sweet bands too,” said Dembinski. “It’s nice to see a bunch of different sized schools, different demographics and different show ideas.”

To learn more about Kentwood Bands, visit www.kentwoodbands.org.

By SYDNEY BOWLER
Capital News Service

The 10 Cents a Day program supports connecting Michigan schools to Michigan farmers for fresh produce. (pxhere.com)

LANSING — Nathan Medina recalls eating bland, boring, non-fresh foods at school as a child.

“I remember eating bagged iceberg lettuce, canned corn and green beans or broccoli stems served alongside our cardboard pizza,” said Medina, who now is the 10 Cents a Meal program policy specialist.

Medina said it was refreshing to see some of the eye-appealing meals that are being served by grantees across the state.

The state-funded grants provide matching incentive funding up to 10 cents per meal to purchase and serve Michigan-grown fruits, vegetables and legumes.

The program is in its second year statewide and was originally a regional pilot program that began in 2016, Medina said.

He’s with the Groundwork Center for Resilient Communities, which has offices in Traverse City and Petoskey, and which runs the program with the state Education Department, Agriculture and Rural Development Department and Michigan State University’s Center for Regional Food Systems.

“This program provides kids with the opportunity to eat real, fresh food that they might not have had the chance to experience before,” said Medina. “While before they might have been eating apples grown in Washington, now they get to try a farm-fresh Michigan apple.”

For the 2021-2022 school year, there were 229 initial grantees, according to the 10 Cents a Meal program. Kent County schools participating include Godwin Heights along with Byron Center, Forest Hills, Kenowa Hills, Kent City, Lowell, Thornapple Kellogg, and West Catholic. Other area schools participating are Jenison along with schools in Holland, Ionia, and Muskegon. According to the 10 Cents a Meal website, about 144 enrolled in the program.

Grants are available not only to school districts, but also to non-school sponsors of the U.S. Department of Agriculture nutrition programs. That includes child care centers, after-school programs and other food programs such as the one provided by the Kent County Juvenile Detention program, which also was a 2021-2022 grant recipient. It is estimated that this year’s grants will support more than 553,000 children.

The Michigan Farmers Market Association supports the program to help farmers, schools and children, said Executive Director Amanda Shreve.

“This program really gives school districts one of the tools they need to more easily engage with local farmers,” she said.

Medina said the program can create individualized plans for participating schools and other organizations.

Not only is the program aiming to create better nutrition options, but it also recognizes the agricultural benefits that come with fresh food. Small farms, distributors and every other person involved in the process of the “farm-to-cafeteria” movement” benefit, Medina said.

Shreve said, “This program really gives school districts one of the tools they need to more easily engage with local farmers.”

Some schools face barriers to access fresh produce, such as cost, time or processing equipment, she said.

“When we can expand the awareness and taste buds of children at a young age, they’re going to continue these eating behaviors for the rest of their lives,” Shreve said. “We hope they will continue to scout local produce and eat fresh fruits and vegetables, setting them up for a lifetime of better health and relationships with food.”

According to Medina, the current budget of $5 million may be expanded in the future.

Due to the fact that Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed the $17.1 billion K-12 budget into law in July 2021, the largest single-year School Aid Fund budget ever passed by the state, this doubled the 10 Cents a Meal’s budget from $2 million in 2020-2021 to $5 for 2021-2022. This has given 10 Cents a Meal an opportunity reopen its applications, which will close on Feb. 11. Officials noted that eligible purchases from the present year may qualify for retroactive reimbursement. For more about the grant, visit tencentsmichigan.org.

WKTV Managing Editor Joanne Bailey-Boorsma contributed to this story.