The Lloydminster Catholic School Division’s band program is expanding to accommodate more students.
The program has approximately 550 people taking part and has reached its capacity for space at Holy Rosary High School. Therefore, the music classroom will go through renovations to double its size, allowing more students to participate. Vice Chair of the LCSD Board Michelle Rusteika says they have seen the numbers of the program grow over the years largely due to band teacher Aaron Sikora.
“The renovation gives us an opportunity to give Mr. Sikora the tools he needs to continue teaching this excellent program, as well as giving our students the best facilities we can offer them.”
LCSD starts their music and fine arts programs at the grade five level and the 2018 grade five class will have almost 240 students starting band.
Band Teacher for 18 years at LCSD Aaron Sikora attributes the success of the program to his students.
“I think it’s students leadership, the students see something here and they want to be part of it and the next students want to be part of it. They see other students succeeding and they want to be part of that and that’s what’s lead to our growth and our continued success.”
The program will also hire one more band teacher in the fall of 2018, having a total of three band teachers.
Sikora says the expansion will help his student play in a large ensemble, which helps with their confidence and builds teamwork.
“I think we’ve been working at a bit of a deficiency for a while when we’re so packed in this room. Now with the expansion we’ll be able to use better technique, sit properly, play properly and it’s going to allow for a large ensemble, which is a big part of our program.”
The high school is building for the needs of up to 170 band students in grade seven and the new centre will allow students across different schools to come together and share in their love of music.
“Every job you go into you’re going to be working with people and so that’s what we’re teaching. We’re teaching people to work together, to teamwork all the time and we’re not just teaching technical music we’re teaching humanity, we’re teaching how to live,” says Sikora.
The high school will also be completing renovations for their new ballet program. The renovations will take place over the summer and are expected to be complete by the fall.