Ukulele Club: Fun With Four Strings At Sierra View Elementary School

Sierra View Elementary School’s Ukulele Club

Sierra View Elementary School in Chico, CA might have the pluckiest club in the county: Ukulele Club. Several years ago, Cathy Frost, Sierra View’s computer lab teacher, took ukulele classes with her son through a specially funded afterschool program at Parkview Elementary. She knew the little four-stringed instrument would be a hit at Sierra View and began looking for ways to make ukuleles available to the kids. In December 2016, she and a friend undertook a social media giveaway challenge on behalf of Sierra View, hoping to win 40 ukuleles from Kala Ukulele. At 3 a.m. one morning, the friend called with a message: “We won the ukes!”

With help from teacher Melanie Glick, who teaches ukulele in her third-grade classroom, and Steve Stewart, whose fifth-grade daughter attends Sierra View, Ukulele Club played its first notes in January 2017. Now, about 30 ukulele enthusiasts in first through fourth grade meet after school every Tuesday. Cathy teaches the younger grades, and Steve teaches the older grades. Both instructors have the assistance of several parents. “This club is definitely not a one-man show,” says Cathy. “At Sierra View, we’ve been very fortunate to have involved parents; everyone is willing to share what they know.”

Courtney Forte, whose second-grade son Jordan joined the club this year, has volunteered as a parent helper. Courtney had a ukulele at home, but neither she nor Jordan had ever played it, so she loves the convenience of having music lessons available right on campus and immediately after school. “There’s team-building as they tune the instruments together, and it is wonderful for him to build this music foundation now,” Courtney says. When she asked her son why he likes the club, Jordan simply said, “It’s fun, Mom. It’s just fun.”

Club participants learn to tune their instruments and play basic songs. Through stringing together a few chords or by putting new words to familiar tunes, the kids even invent new songs. “Early on, the only song we did well was ‘Frere Jacque’ because it’s only one chord,” Cathy says with a laugh, “so then we wrote our own songs.” The kids perform both standard ukulele songs and their own special numbers – like October’s “Ghosts Say Boo” – at school assemblies.

The ukulele might not be the most direct path to musical stardom, but learning this simple instrument introduces kids to notes, rhythm, beat, chords and other foundational elements of music that may help them learn other instruments in the future. Beyond music technique, Cathy says, the “opportunity to perform in front of their peers is really empowering” for kids in the club.

While it may come as no surprise that more confident, outgoing kids would especially thrive in the spotlight, Cathy also sees “kids who can sometimes get lost” find purpose and excitement in performing with the group. For younger students, learning to coordinate their fingers over multiple strings helps develop small motor skills. Songs also help ingrain social and academic lessons, such as a song Melanie wrote to reinforce the school’s focus on Stephen Covey’s seven habits of highly effective kids. As Cathy says, “music is just good for the brain!”

Ukulele Club has had another, unexpected benefit for Sierra View kids. Ernie Witt, a teacher with a reputation for leading a school-wide singalong, teaches a class of children with special needs. A few third-grade kids have started using their lunch breaks to play ukulele music for Ernie’s students. Cathy describes this habit as “a real win-win for Ernie’s kids and for the kids who are playing.” It seems the ukulele has created an avenue not only for practicing notes but also for practicing kindness.