Learning to play a tune at Marion School

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 06/03/2017 (3116 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When Connor Rose, a Grade 12 J. H. Bruns student, had the opportunity to join Nelson McIntyre Collegiate’s Propel Program, a project-based learning incubator that encourages connecting with the outside world, he jumped at the chance.

Propel requires participants to plan and implement a large-scale project and to share their work outcomes in final exhibitions at the end of the semester.

The honour roll student chose a very unique project to test his design capabilities: he wanted to create a cigar box guitar and teach elementary students how to play it.  

“I had very little woodworking knowledge, so I wanted to challenge myself by working in an unfamiliar field. I plan to study engineering after high school, so having hands-on experiences with many different materials is very beneficial to me.”

Connor has played the guitar for the past six years, inspired by courses he completed in his junior high experience at Island Lakes Community School. He has a special interest in blues history and music.

These small three-string guitars date back to the 1850s and were popular during the Great Depression, mostly among blues performers who could not afford expensive instruments. 

 
The instruments iterated through different household items — frying pans, cookie tins, licence plates — but the cigar box seems to be the item that defined the form.

His project had many moving parts. Connor talked to guitar makers at local farmers’ markets; crafted a deal with Thomas Hinds Tobacconist in Winnipeg to secure cigar boxes, obtained poplar and red oak for the neck and fret board, and purchased hardware and tuning pegs from various companies, including one in the United States.

He built his first two cigar box guitars in the Nelson Mac woodshop with the aid of school trades teachers and YouTube videos that offered instruction and tips on how to build them.

He contacted Sara Clefstad, a teacher at Marion School and they planned a class about the cigar box guitar for her Grade 4-5 class.

Connor selflessly constructed an extra 22 guitars, one for each student in the class, an undertaking that took two months of continuous work.

When the class happened on Jan. 19, all students had guitars in their hands.

Sara and her class were astounded “that all of the guitars were electric. They were captivated by Connor’s playing and craftsmanship.”

The finishing touch on the project occurred at the end of the class, when Connor announced that all the students could keep their guitars.

“Working on this project has really strengthened my belief in finding something you love to do, and figuring out how it can benefit others. It has also affirmed my love and interest in engineering.”

Connor is a new breed of emerging student, one that sees his learning in a variety of classrooms and who wants to make a difference in the lives of others.

He certainly made a difference in the lives of students in Marion School.

And who knows? He also may have inspired the next Bo Diddley or Tom Waits.

Adriano Magnifico is a community correspondent for St. Boniface. You can contact him at amagnif@mymts.net