VINEMONT – Vinemont Middle School has acquired 15 brand new guitars for its Musical Enrichment class. Coach Webb at Vinemont Middle School has been working as the P.E. teacher for 13 years and has played the guitar for nearly his entire life, so when the school found itself with a classroom full of guitars but didn’t know who to assign to teach the class, Coach Webb enthusiastically took the position.
“He said, ‘Oh, can I do it? Can I do it?’” Dr. Speer, the principal of VMS, chuckled as she recalled his request for the teaching spot.
There are 20 students in the Music Enrichment class, some of whom bring their own guitars to class as well.
“Our principal has afforded us the opportunity to have this many guitars,” Coach Webb thankfully said. “It’s great, because normally you have three or four. But we want maximum participation where every kid in here is holding a guitar,” he finished.
He says he will go around to local pawn shops and places that may have guitars in stock and ask if they would be interested in donating some to the school in order to provide for some kids who may still be lacking a six-string in hand.
The classes themselves have been ultra-basic so far.
“We’re starting at ground zero, you know,” Coach Webb said, when referring to how he’s approaching introducing the instruments to the students. “We’re showing them how to hold the guitar, the finger positions and teaching them the strings.”
Along with the guitars, Coach Webb received loads of equipment for his P.E. classes.
“We got full lacrosse gear, helmets, nets,” he recounted. “We got all new soccer equipment, nets and balls. All new badminton racquets, nets and birdies or shuttlecocks.”
Webb also implements NFL style agility drills, and he and the school now have the equipment to prepare the middle-school kids for their future in the professional league. He also has taught archery for five years, and the school purchased five brand new, high quality bows, as well as heavy duty targets and everything else to give the kids every opportunity to experience sports in the most authentic way.
Coach Webb has been at VMS for 13 years. Along with being the P.E. teacher, he has taught reading and intervention classes as well. And while he says he’s never officially used his master’s degree in School Counseling, when dealing with kids every day as he does, the children who have come through his classes have surely benefitted from such a diverse and incredible teacher.
