Newark students make music from ‘scratch’ at guitar camp

NEWARK – Wesley Shinn recently started taking guitar lessons, so attending the Newark City Schools Guitar Camp was perfect timing.

Shinn, who will be a senior at Newark High School in August, learned so much more than he expected.

“Building a guitar from scratch and being able to keep it for free sounded interesting, so I went for it,” Shinn said. “You start out with a neck that isn’t shaped and a headstock that isn’t shaped. You get to sand down the body and shape the neck how you want it. You basically do everything. We did soldering. We learned how put the strings on and the equations and how all of the math correlated. We learned how to build it and how it works. I loved every second of it.”

The guitar camp, which partnered with STEM Guitar Project, wrapped up its third year Friday with a field trip to the Midland Theatre, where attendees had the opportunity to plug in on stage and pose for photos and perform for family and friends.

The guitar camp is a part of Newark’s academic camps, which began as STEM camps nine years ago and have taken off with opportunities for students from kindergarten through 12th grade to dig deeper into most academic subjects.

“I got an acoustic for Christmas. I really wanted one because almost everyone in my family plays guitar,” said Odessa Andrews-Barreau, who is entering her freshman year. “The guitar camp was perfect. This is my first electric, so I am excited to play it. I was nervous going up (on stage), but honestly, it wasn’t that nerve-wracking.”

Alex Kovach, a technology integration specialist for Newark, is not a musician. He, however, was drawn to the opportunity for students to take complete ownership of their project.

“I am not a music guy, but I like building things and am a math and science guy. It started with math and science curriculum and turned into building something cool,” Kovach said. “It’s been pretty neat. I like it because a lot of kids don’t know how to use tools. Even people that are real shy to go on stage, they loved building them, and everyone became pretty comfortable with each other throughout the week.”

Garet Sayers, who will be a freshman this fall, said the chance to work with his hands was the draw to the camp. A trombone player, he eventually became hooked or plugged in to making more music.

“I have been helping my grandfather do woodworking projects since like 4 or 5 years old, so the best part was using my hands and getting to not be lazy,” Sayers said. “We do stuff around his house and just tore down a deck and are redoing it.”

Kovach joked next year’s curriculum will have to add a lesson on rocking out. Friday’s event gave an opportunity for students to move out of their comfort zone.

The week opened doors to students for potentially a new hobby and led to friendships that will continue in August.

“Meeting new people is always super fun, and one of my best friends did it with me,” Shinn said. “Everybody was coming together and adding their own little uniqueness to it. It was super fun.”

ksnyder@newarkadvocate.com

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This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Newark students make music from ‘scratch’ at guitar camp