Silver Trail Middle’s Percussion Club

Silver Trail Middle School’s Percussion Club

Written by: Christina Mankowski & Michael Lao

Silver Trail Middle School is proud to present the Silver Striikers Percussion Club directed by STMS Club Sponsor Christina Mankowski and West Broward’s Percussion Director Michael Lao. The mission of the Silver Striikers isto create, provide, and expand life experiences through music. In collaboration with West Broward High School, the Silver Striikers meet after school, twice a month. No matter their musical experience, all students are welcome in our club!

We had several reasons for starting the Silver Striikers. First, we wanted to build a strong connection between the middle school band and high school band programs. While participating in this club, students have several opportunities to interact with West Broward Performance Ensemble’s staff and students. We believe this interaction will create a bridge that allows our students an easier transition from Silver Trail Middle to West Broward High School. Furthermore, we wanted to create an opportunity to enhance the musical abilities of our current percussionists; we wanted to allow players of other instruments to try new instruments; and we felt it was important to encourage anyone interested in picking up an instrument for the first time.

We also believe that music is a great tool for developing many life skills such as teamwork, communication, and general cognitive awareness. Drumming has an amazing influence on student’s social emotional well-being. According to the Chinook School of Music, “Drumming has a positive effect on anxiety, grief, fatigue, depression, and behavioral issues. While drumming, children strengthen their ability to focus, to work on impulse control, and decision-making skills. Playing the drums can help people express themselves and get in touch with their emotional state. Drumming helps us to connect to our core, enhances our sense of empowerment, and stimulates our creative expression.” We could not agree more.

For the first several meetings, we have focused on the beginning basics of playing a percussion instrument. We started with the cup game, moved on to bucket drumming, and plan to begin instrumentation in January. We plan to showcase our club at Mustang Adventure on January 20th and will be performing at Silver Trail’s Endof-Year Spring concert. Want to keep up with us? Follow the Silver Striikers on Instagram @silver_striikers.

Silver Trail Middle School is located at 18300 Sheridan Street. The main phone number is (754) 323-4300. Mr. Steve Frazier is the school’s principal.