Jayven Nation (center) and Milson Lain follow Pat Jameson’s lead during the Wednesday drum club at Challenger Elementary in Everett. (Kevin Clark / The Herald)

Jayven Nation (center) and Milson Lain follow Pat Jameson’s lead during the Wednesday drum club at Challenger Elementary in Everett. (Kevin Clark / The Herald)

Permission to be loud: Drum club is a hit with kids

An elementary gym teacher with donated drums knows how to channel all that fidgety energy.

EVERETT — The students are so loud the windows shake.

Their teacher doesn’t hush or shush them. He has them make more noise.

What’s up with that?

It’s the Wednesday after-school Percussion Club, run by the PE teacher in the music room where songs about fast-food are pulsated on drums.

Pat Jameson is the tall man in gym shorts and cool red Nikes with the whistle around his neck. The drummers are Challenger Elementary School boys and girls in third through fifth grades.

There’s no audition, it’s invite only. Students are chosen by their teachers or by Jameson to build confidence and teamwork.

Jameson knows first-hand about the power of drumming for kids.

“I was very active and fidgety,” he said, “and this was one way I could actually channel that energy into a skill or talent that I could then use in front of people.”

For an hour, it’s nonstop motion. Drumsticks tap, rattle and pound.

“I like to practice moving my hands and moving faster,” third-grader Jayven Nation said. “It never gets loud. Not for me.”

Jameson uses hand gestures to raise and lower the intensity.

Students watch as their gym teacher by day transforms into a rock star conductor. When he blows his whistle it has a different meaning than in PE.

It’s a warning cue for the final set of the song.

When “Chicken Nuggets” ends, it’s time to start “All You Can Eat Buffet.” Then “I Want a Bottomless Soda” and “Ketchup Mustard.”

The words are a mnemonic device à la Jameson style to help students remember the rhythmic patterns of the songs.

Andric Villanueva-Romero listens during percussion club at Challenger Elementary in Everett. (Kevin Clark / The Herald)

Andric Villanueva-Romero listens during percussion club at Challenger Elementary in Everett. (Kevin Clark / The Herald)

“When I was young, a guy told me one of the most simple beats was to just play a phrase like ‘salt and pepper, salt and pepper.’ I said, ‘OK, I can remember that,’” he said.

He expanded his repertoire for the club in keeping with a food theme.

“I picked a beat and made a phrase to go with it that has to do with meals.”

After listening to these drummers, you’ll never simply say,“All you can eat buffet” again. You’ll tap it to a beat in your head and maybe on the table: All-you-can-eat — BUF-FET!

There’s no sheet music or musical notations. Song names are the food phrase in big letters on plain white paper. Students practice all songs and solo in one.

“I like the music that we make and how we participate,” fifth-grader Andric Villanueva-Romero said.

“I like to express my talent,” said Michael Cherniychuk, also in fifth grade.

Pat Jameson (right) leads the drum line during practice at Challenger Elementary in Everett. From left, Andric Villanueva-Romero, Teagan McLaughlin-Clausen and Lynette “Milly” Milagros.                                (Kevin Clark / The Herald)

Pat Jameson (right) leads the drum line during practice at Challenger Elementary in Everett. From left, Andric Villanueva-Romero, Teagan McLaughlin-Clausen and Lynette “Milly” Milagros. (Kevin Clark / The Herald)

So far, their audience has been limited to the people who poke their heads into the room wondering what all the racket is.

“The idea is that hopefully by May or June we will have an assembly where we can do a performance in front of the school,” Jameson said.

No matter that the club just started in January.

“I want to play in front of the school,” fifth-grader Milson Lain said.

Jameson, 32, launched a drum club for students at a middle school in his native England before moving to Washington, where his wife’s parents lived at the time. He started teaching at Challenger three years ago.

He missed sharing his drumming passion with others. Last year, he talked some fellow teachers into doing an act in the school talent show. Under his tutelage, they clunked out “Chicken Nuggets” and other such hits on metal pots and plastic buckets, and got a lot of confused looks. He wasn’t sure his colleagues would be such good sports this year.

He got approval to form a drum club for students at the school, which doesn’t have a percussion program. Kennelly Keys Music donated a dozen pairs of drumsticks.

At first the instruments were those pots he forced the teachers to use, and broken Conga drums he covered in duct tape. Chairs were also used as drums.

Jameson wanted each kid to have a drum, a real drum. So he sent an email asking if any schools had old drums to spare.

Pat Jameson leads the drum circle during practice at Challenger Elementary in Everett. (Kevin Clark / The Herald)

Pat Jameson leads the drum circle during practice at Challenger Elementary in Everett. (Kevin Clark / The Herald)

Kamiak High School band director Toby Bathurst responded right away, offering 10 drums. These included toms and drum line models that the band no longer needed.

It’s so much better than what the self-taught Jameson had in his youth.

“I started playing on cardboard boxes. My snare drum was my hamster cage inside of the box because that rattled. And that’s how I practiced my drum,” he said.

“It was helpful as a release and a distraction and being able to make noise.”

He sees results in his students.

“Some came in timid.”

Not for long, though. They have a license to be loud.

Lynette “Milly” Milagros pounds a beat during practice at Challenger Elementary in Everett. (Kevin Clark / The Herald)

Lynette “Milly” Milagros pounds a beat during practice at Challenger Elementary in Everett. (Kevin Clark / The Herald)

“To see their faces from the very beginning, and just trying to keep up, to now where they are leading their own beat and focused on it,” he said. “They really get a sense of being part of a group.”

Students take turns leading. They help each other out.

The bottled-up energy from being in class all day melts into rhythms.

“It is loud but at the same time it also helps get the energy out of me,” third-grader Lynette “Milly” Milagros said. “It ends up tiring me out, but I still like it because it is relaxing.”

Practice extends outside the club.

“I like to do it on my desk while I am doing math,” said Esteban Estrada-Orcaza.

(His fifth-grade teacher confirmed this.)

Teagan McLaughlin-Clausen, a third-grader, has played with drumsticks since the first grade.

“My grandpa has a set of drums. He used to be in a band,” she said. “If I grow out of drumming, I might want to be a zookeeper.”

Andrea Brown: abrown@heraldnet.com; 425-339-3443. Twitter @reporterbrown.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

Frank DeMiero founded and directed the Seattle Jazz Singers, a semi-professional vocal group. They are pictured here performing at the DeMiero Jazz Festival. (Photos courtesy the DeMiero family)
‘He dreamed out loud’: Remembering music educator Frank DeMiero

DeMiero founded the music department at Edmonds College and was a trailblazer for jazz choirs nationwide.

Provided photo 
Tug Buse sits in a period-correct small ship’s boat much like what could have been used by the Guatamozin in 1803 for an excursion up the Stillaguamish River.
Local historian tries to track down historic pistol

Tug Buse’s main theory traces back to a Puget Sound expedition that predated Lewis and Clark.

Archbishop Murphy High School on Friday, Feb. 28 in Everett, Washington. (Will Geschke / The Herald)
Former teacher charged with possession of child pornography

Using an online investigation tool, detectives uncovered five clips depicting sexual exploitation of minors.

A person waits in line at a pharmacy next to a sign advertising free flu shots with most insurance on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Have you had the flu yet, Snohomish County? You’re not alone.

The rate of flu-related hospitalizations is the highest it’s been in six years, county data shows, and there are no signs it will slow down soon.

City of Everett Principal Engineer Zach Brown talks about where some of the piping will connect to the Port Gardner Storage Facility, an 8-million-gallon waste water storage facility, on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Port Gardner Storage Facility will allow Everett to meet state outflow requirements

The facility will temporarily store combined sewer and wastewater during storm events, protecting the bay from untreated releases.

Founder of Snohomish County Indivisible Naomi Dietrich speaks to those gather for the senator office rally on Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Membership numbers are booming for Snohomish County’s Indivisible chapter

Snohomish County’s Indivisible chapter, a progressive action group, has seen… Continue reading

Lynnwood
Police: Man fired gun into Alderwood Mall to steal $20K in sneakers

The man allegedly shot through mall entrances and stole high-end merchandise before reselling it

A car drives along Lockwood Road in front of Lockwood Elementary School pas the new flashing crosswalk on Monday, Sept. 30, 2024 in Bothell, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Everett responds to higher traffic deaths with ‘Vision Zero’ goal

Officials are pushing for lower speed limits, safer crossings and community input to curb fatalities on city roads.

Mrs. Hildenbrand runs through a spelling exercise with her first grade class on the classroom’s Boxlight interactive display board funded by a pervious tech levy on Tuesday, March 19, 2024 in Marysville, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Snohomish County schools react to education department firings

The Department of Education announced Tuesday it will lay off more than 1,300 employees.

Lynnwood
Lynnwood City Council eyes path forward at contentious meeting

The council discussed how to move forward in filling its vacancy after Jessica Roberts withdrew Thursday.

Everett Transit Director Mike Schmieder talks about how the buses are able to lower themselves onto the induction chargers on Monday, March 10, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Everett Transit set to sell nine electric buses

The buses, built by a now-bankrupt company, had reliability issues for years. The agency’s 10 other electric buses don’t have those problems.

Camano Island Fire & Rescue chooses new chief

Jason Allen, who has worked at the district since 1999, will replace outgoing Fire Chief Levon Yengoyan.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.