Gabriel Richard teacher gets creative to keep her students making music and memories despite COVID-19 restrictions on singing, gathering

RIVERVIEW — Making music was a challenge this school year, but one teacher and her class of determined students at Gabriel Richard High School faced it head on. 

Last fall, Kim Eberly, music director at Gabriel Richard in Riverview, knew the upcoming school year would be tough. 

“I studied the research that was out there at the time and made the decision that it wouldn’t be safe for us to play our band instruments or sing in person,” Eberly told Detroit Catholic. “This, of course, presented the biggest challenge. If we can’t sing in choir or play instruments in band class, what do we do instead?”

The hybrid schedule — both in person and remote learning — made playing instruments and singing even more difficult. 

“My class sizes are small to begin with, but at one point I had only one student in-person out of eight in the class,” said Eberly, who teaches both band and glee. “This was particularly challenging because every day was different, and pre-planning lessons was futile.” 

Eberly used the extra time to work with students individually, creating tutorial videos and giving “mini-lessons” tailored to each student’s needs. She focused on creative solutions, and found what she was looking for — boomwhackers and bucket drumming.

A boomwhacker is a plastic tube of different lengths, which produces a particular pitch when struck on a surface. 

“Typically, you only find boomwhackers in elementary music classrooms, but I didn’t see a reason why we couldn’t get creative with them in a more advanced way,” Eberly said. So, “I decided that my band would become a boomwhacker band.” 

Each student received anywhere from one to four boomwhackers, and they were responsible for playing those particular notes when they came up in the music, she continued. 

“This allowed us to still work on note and rhythm reading, while also working as an ensemble to make a unified product,” Eberly said. 

The class became so proficient that the students performed a virtual Christmas concert using boomwhackers.

Zosia Beilfuss, a junior in Eberly’s band class, said although there were times when the class couldn’t be together, she was happy they could still play and perform. 

“I really enjoyed playing the boomwhackers this past semester,” she said. “They were very easy to pick up, and we were all able to make wonderful music with them.”

When it came to Eberly’s glee class, showing off their vocals took on new meaning for her students, who were able to display their musical talent in other ways with a five-gallon bucket and two wooden dowels to use as drumsticks.

“The choir became a bucket-drumming ensemble,” Eberly said. “While it had nothing to do with singing, this was my best solution to still make music with this class. It allowed us to learn more complicated rhythms and also work on ensemble listening, an important skill to transfer to singing.” 

Christiana Trela, a senior in glee, admitted she was hesitant about bucket drumming — at first. 

“When I found out we were going to do bucket drumming, I was a little disappointed, but I had to remind myself that we had to keep ourselves safe through these trying times,” she said. “Did I have fun doing this? Yes, and I can say that I know rhythms in music better now. Though, I have to say that I was pretty fast to ditch the drumming when Mrs. Eberly announced we would be singing again.”

When the second semester began, while still following safety protocols, Eberly was ready to have the students sing and play instruments. Students were especially excited to work on a “Masked Singer” project, modeled after the reality television show in which disguised celebrities sing for a panel of judges. 

Eberly used an online program to allow each student to record themselves singing a song, but their faces were covered by an emoji. After she received the videos, she sent the performances to a panel of judges made up of Gabriel Richard staff, who voted for their favorite performances and made guesses as to each contestant’s identity. 

“This was a great way for the students to anonymously show off their talents while also giving staff members a fun, mental break from the daily grind,” Eberly said. 

Performing was something Trela truly enjoyed. 

“I was very excited when she told us that we would be doing the Masked Singer competition again,” she said. “It was my favorite activity that we did the previous year.”

Glee student Logan LaPere also enjoyed the project. “I was skeptical about bucket drumming at first, but it ended up being really fun,” said LaPere, a freshman. “Of course, I was more excited to return to singing, and the Masked Singer project was a great way to do it.”

From the beginning, Eberly, who is in her third year of teaching at Gabriel Richard, knew the school year would require a lot of adjustment, especially from her students. 

“At first, a few of them were disappointed when they learned we wouldn’t be doing things ‘normally’ at the beginning of the school year,” she said. “However, they were very flexible, and they soon discovered how fun our alternate methods could be.”

Her students, including Beilfuss, agreed. 

“Mrs. Eberly has been incredibly influential through everything we’ve been through,” Beilfuss said. “I believe that without her constant encouragement and her drive to keep us all going, I wouldn’t be where I am today.”

“She is incredibly patient,” LaPere added. “She will help as much as she needs to for any of us from work to note memorization.”

The respect between Eberly and her students is mutual. The motivation from her students is what helps to drive Eberly, who is also director of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s Civic Symphonic Band, in discovering creative methods for her class. 

“The students have been incredibly resilient, and I am so proud of them for keeping a positive attitude through all of the changes this year,” she said. “We are all hoping for a return to normalcy next school year, but we all learned a great deal this year.”