RANCHO SANTA FE — The energy was electrifying as the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus motored to the R. Roger Rowe School in Rancho Santa Fe. It provided participants with a sense of inspiration.
Roger Rowe Middle School Principal Garrett Corduan, said it was a day to give kids an opportunity to discover music or their musical talent.
“What I saw today was great,” Corduan said. “The kids were encouraged to pick an instrument, play it, and the gentlemen that came along with the John Lennon Bus were right there by their side showing the kids how to makes sounds and music.”
Corduan said the best part was watching how the children were immersed in a newfound interest.
According to Corduan, approximately 100 students participated throughout the day that had permission slips for the event.
“In their interest form for the event, they wrote paragraphs as to why they would like to be selected when the group comes back to be part of a recording session,” he said.
According to Corduan, the John Lennon Bus will return in the months ahead and around 10 students will be selected to participate in a music video, which highlights their school.
The bus is equipped with a state-of-the-art sound studio and more. Corduan was impressed with the bus and the people who worked there.
“The amount of technology in that bus, whether it is just the recording component or the video component was all high definition and all super high quality,” he said.
Through this John Lennon foundation, a legacy continues to help and inspire children. And the kids had an opportunity to learn about Lennon and The Beatles.
“In the presentation, they were telling the children that John Lennon just wasn’t just a musician. He was a poet, an artist and a photographer,” he said.
Brian Vincik, a parent whose child attends the school, was thrilled to have the bus there since it brought so many different components. On a whole, he believed the bus afforded a sense of imagination to the kids.
While the children receive traditional exposure in the classroom and extra activities, the mere presence of the bus gave them additional insight.
The bus had multiple levels of musical themes.
“There’s engineering, production, and it gives the kids a behind the scenes look,” Vincik said. “Right now a lot of kids turn on the radio and hear something but they may not have the appreciation of how it’s made.”
The bus gave them that refreshed point of view.
Vincik spent a great deal of time on the bus throughout the day and was delighted to see the reaction from the children. As a parent, he appreciates when his child is exposed to several things and looks for that one moment realizing that something clicked.
“And this bus is part of that journey. I guarantee you there’s going to be one child in here that’s going to be inspired by this and it will hopefully change their life,” said Vincik, adding how the buses are worldwide and make a positive impact to children everywhere.
