Blake Elementary students showcase songwriting talents

Since January, nine H.G. Blake Elementary School students have been using their recess time to learn how to write and compose their own songs. On May 19, they had the opportunity to showcase their skills at a luncheon event held in the school library.

The songwriting workshop is a tradition started 11 years ago by Ohio Regional Music Arts and Cultural Outreach (ORMACO). The program was directed by Blake Elementary music teacher Jacqueline DesRochers.

“This is the second year of doing this here at Blake,” she explained. “I did do it for two years at Garfield (Elementary School) as well, but of course, when I came over here, I brought the program with me.”

ORMACO founder Thomas Sigel said the program began at Garfield Elementary with a small cohort of fifth graders being taught by music therapist Tom Lempner. In the beginning, students created original songs around a shared theme. Eleven years later, students have the opportunity to write songs surrounding the subject matter of their choice.

Over the years, former Garfield Elementary music teacher Nick Dominguez transformed the program from what Sigel described as a “new experiment” into an “established annual offering.” After Dominguez left Garfield, DesRochers took over the program and expanded it to include all students rather than just “at-risk” youths. During the last two years following Garfield’s closure, the program transitioned into a lunchtime event for parents and family members of participating students.

“This is the second time we’ve done it as a luncheon, which I really enjoy because I think it’s a setting where they can talk and discuss what they’re doing, and they’re really sharing it with families,” DesRochers said. “Sharing a song that they wrote in front of people can be a hard thing to do, so I like that it’s kind of a smaller setting.”

In the months leading up to the luncheon, students learned various aspects of songwriting and composition, including rhyme schemes and phrasing, musical genres and instrumentation, chord progression, and the use of digital programs such as QGrooves and BandLab to edit their work and collaborate with classmates. The students also created lyric videos that played alongside recordings of each song during the luncheon.

While students were free to write songs about topics of their choice, several selected summertime themes, including “Summer Day” written and performed by Mila Gonzalez and Brie Goodson, “The Beach” written and performed by Leila Steadley, and “Summer Vibes” written and performed by Giavonnia Ross and Ari Ciarlillo.

Additionally, Winry Wershing and Elise Emerson’s “Sweet Sorrow” explored looking toward the future, while Scarlett Davis and Ava Sagen’s “Home” focused on finding positivity in the face of adversity.

Brooklyn Gillihan’s song “Brain” reflected a personal family experience.

“She had shared with us that she has a family member who had passed from dementia, and so she learned a lot about the brain through that,” DesRochers said.

DesRochers said the program helps students develop creativity and new musical skills.

“I think a sense of accomplishment is the biggest thing,” she said. “It’s like, you wrote a song, we listened to it, you have it on a CD now. And I think this year, the addition of the lyric videos really just kind of cemented, like, ‘We have a final finished project, and I made this.’”

Sigel said the program is about more than music instruction.

“At-risk students – whether due to poverty, trauma, instability or social isolation – rarely get structured opportunities to express what they’re carrying,” he said. “Songwriting flips the script.”