LUTSEL K'E/SNOWDRIFT
The principal of Lutsel K'e Dene School is passing a somewhat surprising skill along to his students. He's showing them how to be a DJ.

Devin Roberts, the principal of Lutsel K'e Dene School, helps Grade 3 student Nuni Marlowe create some sound effects on DJing equipment. - photo courtesy of Lutsel K'e Dene School

Since he arrived in the community at the beginning of the school year, Devin Roberts has been instructing a weekly DJ Club.

"It's definitely, I would say, unique but I think the modern-day teacher needs to wear a lot of hats and there are a lot of classes that centre around technology in itself," he said, adding the club also helps him relate to students.

"It's just an after-school activity," he explained. "I set it up because it was something that might appeal to kids that aren't necessarily involved in athletics."

The term "DJ" originates from the words "disc jockey", but it is much more than the pre-hip hop image of someone putting vinyl discs on a turntable and putting the needle in the right place, or even inserting a compact disc.

Today's DJ is an artist who creates beats, mixes and matches songs, and even creates music and sound effects - all by using specialized computer sound equipment.

"You take two songs and match the beats of them so that you can play them at the same time," Roberts explained. "So when you transition between songs, there's no dead air. There's always music playing."

Zachary Sangris, a 15-year-old Grade 9 student, has been involved in DJ Club for a couple of months.

"Making music is fun," he said. "I learned to beat match and some tricks."

Sangris also said he is learning about different types of music.

Grade 3 student Nuni Marlowe has also been part of DJ Club for a few months, after being first attracted by the electronic equipment.

"I wanted to know how the DJ sounded," said the eight-year-old, who particularly enjoys creating sound effects.

"Nuni is really good at playing the effects and making it sound cool," noted Roberts.

Six students consistently come to club, while others occasionally show up.

"We basically teach the kids how to use the equipment," said Roberts. "I have them help me do some youth dances, as well. So they actually help me DJ at the dances."

The dances, he says, have helped make DJ Club more popular.

"Now that we've played some dances and the kids have seen it on the big system and how cool it sounds in a big, loud gym as opposed to just in a classroom after school, there seems to be more interest now," said Roberts.

The students learn a number of things at DJ Club, including technology, how to create music, about musical keys and scales and about different genres of music.

"So they actually learn a lot more than someone would think from the outside looking in," said Roberts.

The principal uses his own equipment for DJ Club.

That includes the programming software with which a person can create music and beats. Roberts uses Ableton Live, but he remembers when he used to DJ with real turntables and an old mixer.

"But that's quite heavy to lug around, as well as the vinyl records that you used to have to bring," he explained. "So now I have what's called a Serato DJ amp mixer. It has two silver platters that kind of simulate a turntable."

The 36-year-old said that as school principal, DJ Club helps him relate to students in a different light, besides academics or discipline issues.

"So this was a fun way at the end of the day on a Tuesday just to talk about something else, about music, and to get to know the students," he said. "Especially at the beginning of the year, it was a neat way to kind of figure out what makes them tick, what makes them excited outside of school, and then we could talk about school afterwards. So it's kind of a gateway to help them feel like they're a part of the school, too."

Plus, he said research has shown that if students are involved in extracurricular activities, they're going to attend class more, making them more likely to succeed in school.

Prior to arriving in Lutsel K'e Roberts was a teacher for three-and-a-half years at Mackenzie Mountain School in Norman Wells. There, he also taught some DJing as part of a media studies program, which was included in the regular curriculum.

Roberts first became active as a DJ in 2001 in his native Nova Scotia, and has been doing it ever since.

In fact, he says he earned a reputation as a DJ in Halifax while working as a substitute teacher. Plus, he was a DJ while working as a substitute teacher in London, England and while teaching English at a college in Quebec City. About a decade ago, Roberts became more involved in DJing and actually ran a production company for five years.

However, he said he always had teaching in mind for his career.

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