School of Rock

Originally published in Sound, Phrase & Fury 4.3 July/August 2016.

We all know there is something really special about music. Whether you create it or simply listen to and enjoy it, there has always been something embedded into the songs we know and love that seems to speak to us and reach us in ways that other things just cannot. Throughout history there has always been something hidden in those little sound waves that really help people connect, and for a lot of youth who generally have a hard time escaping isolation and loneliness – music is their only saving grace.

Griffin Jenkins, Program Manager of Rock It Out! Summer Band Camp at Mood Disorders Association of Manitoba, knows this all too well. Through the Rock It Out! Summer Band Camp, kids have the opportunity to learn how to make music while learning to cope with stress and anxiety, connect with one another and ultimately become the confident, fun-loving kids they were meant to be. We sat down with Jenkins to talk about the program, the impact it has on youth, and his own experience as a past camp participant.

SPF: How did the program come about and what sparked the idea?
GJ: In 2011, my predecessor Taylor Demetrioff came up with the idea and came to Mood Disorders and really pushed for it to happen. He ran the program for the first couple of years. I was actually a participant of the first year, and so him and I formed a friendship and bonded through the camp. He moved onto a different position and I took over, so now I run the band camp, as well as a number of other youth programs. This year we ran a sports camp, run by the same model as the band camp. We also partnered with Kids etc. to do a dance camp, so we’ll be doing a one-week pilot dance camp this summer.

SPF: What was your experience like as a participant of band camp?
GJ: I went to the first three years of camp. I loved it. I remember the last day of the first year I thought, ‘oh man, I don’t want to go home. I want to come back and hang out more.’ It was so much fun to play music with people, learn to be in a band and meet a group of people with the same mindset as you and work on how to be better people and help other people as well as help yourself.

SPF: The camp was formed for kids who have mood disorders or anxiety. Other than learning to make music, does the program teach other skills like how to cope and deal with stressful situations?
GJ: The camp is open to anyone. You don’t need to have a diagnosis because everyone has mental health. Everyday we have a support group session where we talk about a variety of topics between family, school, stress, anxiety and how to set goals. This year we’re actually doing a cognitive behaviour program within the camp to help kids learn to rework their thoughts. It just adds another layer of education about mental health.

SPF: What happens in the program?
GJ: There are four 2-week sessions. For the first week kids get to know each other. We do a survey to see where they’re at musically, what kind of music they like and we put them in bands. We help them learn cover songs and if there are kids who might have less-developed music abilities than others, we try to work on it and help them out. In the second week, we begin teaching them how to write their own songs. We have instructors who have written songs before and they help with basic chord structure and writing lyrics on how they’re feeling to express themselves. All that is gearing up to the final show on the last Friday of each session.

We  teach   in  subtle  ways  but the  impact  it  leaves  on  them and  the  bonding  and relationships  that  they gain  are  just  remarkable

SPF: Tell me about the overall impact the camp has on these kids?
GJ: It’s remarkable. It doesn’t seem like a big thing at first. It’s not like at the end of camp everyone is like, ‘oh my God. I’m better now!’ But when you see them a year from now and you see that they’re on a cheerleading team. They’re now on a sports team. They’re hanging out with friends. They’re not just in their basement. They’re getting out there. They’re talking to people. This year especially, we have more people volunteering with the program who have aged out but they just want to be there. They want to help out. They say “I love the program so much and I want everyone to love it as much as I do.” It’s amazing to see. I mean, when you’re at camp it’s just us hanging out. We teach in subtle ways but the impact it leaves on them and the bonding and relationships that they gain are just remarkable.

SPF: So the kids get to break out of their shells.
GJ: One of the girls who went for three years, she was super shy. She didn’t really talk to anyone but this year she has been talking to someone at The United Way about her story. She actually presented at a luncheon recently about her experience and how important this program is to her.  It’s amazing just seeing someone go from having super social anxiety to wanting to tell everyone about her story because she is so happy about it.

SPF: What are some of the big changes you’ve seen over the past couple of years?
GJ: In the first year, there was just one 2-week session. The next year it grew to 4 weeks, and since then the number of people who have started to come out has grown. The amount of support from sponsors has continued to grow and it’s amazing to see how a little idea of giving kids something to do for the summer has turned into a major program for our organization.

SPF: What’s your favourite success story from the program?
GJ: There were a couple of kids who were just mean and angry. Irritability and anger can sometimes be a symptom of depression so these kids were getting kicked out of class, not being able to focus and just angry all the time. All of a sudden they would come to camp and be angry the first day but once we had a chance to talk they’re like, ‘I’m really pissed off because no one understands me, but you guys understand what I’m going through.’ They would immediately flip over and turn into these super fun loving kids who just want to hang out.

Rock It Out! is open to Manitoba youth aged 12-17. Sessions are two weeks long and run between July 4 – August 26. To register, e-mail griffinj@mooddisordersmanitoba.ca or phone 204-786-0987