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Yet, in one of the most unlikely collaborations in Coulee Region history, 734 kindergartners through fifth graders at West Salem elementary have teamed up with hip hop artists from the Twin Cities to produce “Critter Kids,” an environmental CD designed to promote the school’s Outdoor Educational Center (also known as the school forest).
It all began last year when second grade teacher Cyndy Nichols was talking with Twin Cities’ hip hop producer A-Scratch about his music. “I told him that kids love that beat but there are so few songs that are appropriate for them,” recalled Nichols. “He agreed and suggested that we make one.”
Nichols wondered whether kids could be part of the project and A-Scratch suggested they write lyrics, and record sounds and chants. Because of his job, A-Scratch has plenty of contacts in the Twin Cities’ hip hop community. “After he talked it over with them, they said Let’s do it!,’” Nichols said.
Both A-Scratch and the rappers contributing to the project Romes, Capaciti and Lars Nelson agreed to work without compensation. “They are so excited and so am I. The fact that they are doing this all for free speaks volumes. It cost a lot of money, but they are saving us a lot, too,” Nichols said.
Last November kids began doing research and writing lyrics as part of their classes with music teachers Lisa Jones and Kelli Martin. “It was part of learning about rhyming,” said Jones. “Then in the spring we recorded chants and other sounds.”
The process of writing lyrics had to be adjusted to each grade. “We had vary the activities based on age levels. In kindergarten we worked with the whole glass. By fifth grade we were letting individuals come up with their own lyrics,” Jones recalled.
“We used sticks for rain and stomped our feet for thunder and the whole class got to say a line,” said second grader Ashlyn Arneson. Classmate Carissa Hass recalled how “we got to say words into a microphone.”
Fifth-grader Morgan Weber said she enjoyed doing a “water rap.” Matthew Schams, also a fifth-grader, was pleased with what the class came up with. “We did a song about swamplands it feels like you’re in a rainforest,” he said.
Both Weber and Schams agreed that the best part was hearing what the songs they’d contributed sounded like afterwards.
After the students recorded their parts, the lyrics and sounds were sent to the Twin Cities where the rappers used them to create a recording. Although the CDs will not be available until December, the students have already heard selected songs.
“They really like the music. Their favorite is the one where the animals and bears are singing they keep asking Can we hear it again?’,” Jones said.
A sample lyric from that song goes: “We’re the Critter Kids and we’re here to say don’t pollute the earth so we can stay.”
The school has ordered 1,000 copies and will need to sell about 200 (at $10 apiece) to pay for the project. “We’ve been pre-selling them and we’re about a fourth of the way there any profits we make will be used to benefit the Outdoor Education Center,” Jones said.
Besides creating many of the sounds heard on the CD students also contributed artwork that featured on the album cover. Art teachers Angie Johnson and Danielle Tsukano oversaw that portion of the project.
Jones said the cover will feature a picture of the school forest and there will be stickers on the inside of the album that can be placed on the outside to customize the CD.
“We wanted to show them that this kind of music could be good and that it could help teach others about the environment. There will probably be 10 songs and it’s a real kid-friendly CD they should make great Christmas gifts,” Jones added.
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