What began with 30 ukuleles in a classroom has grown into something much bigger at LKDSB's Indian Creek Road Public School in Chatham.
Walk past the music room today and there is a good chance you will hear something happening inside. Students might be practicing guitar over recess, helping one another work through a chorus or simply gathering for an impromptu jam session.
Over the past several years, the room has become a place students choose to be and a growing music hub within the school.
Now, an $8,000 MusiCounts grant is helping Indian Creek Road Public School take its next step, allowing the school to purchase additional acoustic guitars to create a full class set, along with a new performance keyboard and guitar accessories.
But the story of music at Indian Creek did not begin with this year's grant.
It stretches back to 2018, when educator Sheri Sparling successfully applied to MusiCounts for funding to purchase 30 ukuleles. The instruments were introduced as a way to increase student engagement while creating opportunities to connect music with other areas of learning, including mathematics.
That same school year, music teacher Sonya DeNaeyer-Louzon continued building on that foundation, fundraising to add another 90 ukuleles. Support came from across the school and wider community, including grants from Entegrus, Ridge Landfill, South-Kent Wind and the May Court Club, contributions from the school's Booster and Home and School Clubs, and plenty of hot dog sales along the way.
Students also had the opportunity to take part in a full workshop with the "Ukulele Kings", an experience that added another layer of excitement to the growing program while helping raise additional funds through the group's local performance that evening.
And the momentum was beginning to show.
That fall, Indian Creek entered the CBC Music Class Challenge for the first time and, from a field of more than 30,000 students, finished among the top 10.
Soon, learning the ukulele had become part of the Intermediate experience at Indian Creek, with students in Grades 7 and 8 developing musical skills together.
For current music teacher Robin Childs, that history matters.
"Without Sheri and Sonya, I don't know what kind of music program there would be here today," said Childs. "They built the foundation. I was fortunate to be able to take what they started and continue to grow it."
When Childs arrived at Indian Creek in 2021, the school was emerging from the disruption of the pandemic. Much of the thriving music program that had existed before COVID needed to be rebuilt.
So she began again.
And slowly, students came back.
By 2024, support from the school's Parent Council helped purchase six acoustic guitars. Rather than initially being used as part of a formal classroom guitar program, the instruments were available to students interested in learning, including those who already played and wanted somewhere to practice and improve their skills.
The response was hard to miss.
Students began showing up during recesses and spare moments between classes. Some took what they already knew from learning ukulele and began teaching themselves guitar. Others learned from their classmates.
By 2025, three more acoustic guitars had been added, along with an electric guitar and bass guitar.
Along the way, the music room transformed into a hub of creativity and connection.
Students who might not otherwise cross paths began finding one another through music. Jam sessions became a normal part of the day, with students learning together, sharing what they knew and building friendships along the way.
For Childs, that sense of belonging is every bit as important as learning the notes.
"Not every student is going to walk out of here and become a professional musician," said Childs. "But at the very least, they will learn a new skill and have the confidence that comes with doing so. They will have a true appreciation for music and the hard work that goes into creating it."
Music also gives students another way to strengthen skills that extend well beyond the music room. Keeping rhythm and understanding patterns can reinforce mathematical thinking, while reading lyrics, following musical notation, listening carefully and interpreting a song draw on many of the same skills students use in literacy and communication.
And the learning does not necessarily end when students leave Indian Creek.
Former Indian Creek students Grant VanMiddlekoop and Griffyn St. Denis, now Grade 9 students at John McGregor Secondary School, returned to the school this week as current students prepared to record their entry for the national CBC Music Class Challenge.
Both were once among the students who could regularly be found in the music room practicing guitar. Now, they have carried that passion with them into secondary school, continuing to develop as musicians at John McGregor Secondary School, just down the road.
VanMiddlekoop also played an important role in helping the next generation of Indian Creek musicians. As part of the school's MusiCounts application, he created the student video explaining what additional instruments would mean for the music program.
Students like VanMiddlekoop and St. Denis helped inspire Childs to pursue funding that would put guitars into the hands of even more students.
That opportunity is about to become a reality.
Beginning in January 2027, Grade 8 students who have developed a foundation on the ukulele will begin learning guitar as part of the school's music program. Over time, the vision is for ukulele instruction to move into the junior grades, allowing students to build their skills before progressing to guitar and, eventually, keyboard in the Intermediate years.
The result will be a musical pathway within the school, where students can begin with one instrument, build their skills and confidence, and gradually take on new challenges.
The program also increasingly stretches beyond the walls of the music room.
Each June, Indian Creek hosts an Intermediate Arts Showcase, giving students an opportunity to share their work in music, dance, drama and visual arts with families and younger students. School musicians have also participated in community events, and Childs is exploring opportunities for students to perform at local long-term care residences this year.
That growing confidence was on display Thursday, November 5, as Indian Creek students once again recorded their entry for the CBC Music Class Challenge, powered by MusiCounts. The Canada-wide competition invites school music groups and community programs to choose a Canadian song, create their own arrangement and submit a video performance. The fall 2026 challenge includes categories for instrumental, vocal and contemporary ensembles.
For a music program that began with a set of ukuleles and a vision, the moment felt particularly fitting.
The newest MusiCounts grant will put more instruments into the room, but what has been built at Indian Creek cannot be measured simply by the number of guitars on the wall.
It can be heard at recess.
It can be seen when one student shows another a chord.
It is in the confidence of students willing to perform in front of their peers and families, and in former students who return to the school where they first discovered how much music could mean to them.
What began organically has become part of the culture of Indian Creek Road Public School.
And with a new generation of musicians preparing to pick up their first guitars, Indian Creek's music story is only beginning to find its rhythm.
