English teacher acts as a mentor for rock guitar club
English teacher Tom Rooth might strike some as an upstanding,
straight-laced English teacher, but to the students he mentors in
the Rock Guitar Club he’s a
”
cool guy,
”
though still a bit of a
”
hard ass
”
who inspires his students to follow their passions.
English teacher acts as a mentor for rock guitar club
English teacher Tom Rooth might strike some as an upstanding, straight-laced English teacher, but to the students he mentors in the Rock Guitar Club he’s a “cool guy,” though still a bit of a “hard ass” who inspires his students to follow their passions.
For nearly four years Rooth has been mentoring students who want to rock.
“I’d been teaching guitar to kids one-on-one for years,” Rooth said. “Some of them got pretty good. I’d had the idea for a club for years, but when I proposed it, it was very interesting [that] some of the faculty were hot for the idea and some didn’t want it.”
But student interest was high. At the first meeting, Rooth had more than 25 students show up. He had to bring in extra chairs, because there were so many interested students.
Since then membership in the club has risen and fallen, but now club attendance ranges anywhere from five to 25 students depending on the day.
When Rooth started helping the kids learn to play they all had their own skill levels. Some wanted to learn to play while others wanted to learn new chords and wanted a venue to perform.
“It kind of turned into more performances than lessons,” Rooth said. “Several of the bands actually came together through the class. One kid played drums and he needed a bass player so they’d get together and write songs and rehearse.”
Rooth teaches old chords and movements. The kids define and embrace their own styles; this year heavy metal seems to prevail, he said.
At the recently held Battle of the Bands nine bands performed and the majority of those bands played some sort of heavy metal music.
It was quite a stretch from the first battle – which was held as a benefit concert – in March of 2005. It was a memorial concert for Paul LaCorte. A former student suggested holding the benefit concert and the club members raised nearly $1,000.
“Once we had one, there was no stopping it,” Rooth said. “The kids were determined to have one every year since.”
Now the club has four concerts on the school calendar annually.
Last year when three bands and members from a fourth all graduated, Rooth said he wondered what would happen to the club.
The remaining kids and new students kept the club going.
“They live for this club,” Rooth said. “When I started this, I never thought it would be so big.”
Adam Crawford, a junior this year, has been in Rock Guitar Club for one-and-a-half years. His rock band, “The Undefined,” performed at the Battle of the Bands and took fifth place.
Crawford was also a student in Rooth’s English class during one semester. For him there was little difference between the Rooth from Rock Guitar Club and English class Rooth.
“He’s a great guy, a great character,” Crawford said. “He wants to share music with the kids here at the high school. He’s pretty much the same guy in the classroom. He’s more talkative in class…”
As with any club, the students are required to maintain their grades and Rooth sees that as a little leverage.
“There is probably more than one kid who wouldn’t be [at the high school] if it wasn’t for Rock Guitar Club,” Rooth said. “It’s their outlet. It’s where they get to come and practice and perform.”
