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As of 2023, Bowling Green High School’s guitar class is the first new music class on the roster in over a decade. Evolving from a dream, to a club, to having a spot in the 2023-2024 class registration, the guitar class has found its place in the school… and in its students’ hearts. With support from the silent charity, the “Son-Rhea Foundation,” and unprecedented levels of student involvement, the guitar class has blossomed into what it is today.
The idea for creating the guitar class was conceived after Orchestra teacher. Patrick O’Rourke was asked the same question every year by fourth-grade string students: “Can we play guitar?” In an interview, O’Rourke said, “I always have to say, ‘No, because what we’re doing is bowed-string instruments.’ I always thought, ‘Well, we have people that want to learn this, and we have a guy that can teach it. Why are we not offering this in schools?’”
Seeing an opportunity to teach students something they have a genuine interest in, O’Rourke began planning how to incorporate a guitar class into the school day.
Last year during an Early Release Wednesday, BGHS junior and cello player, Aiden Stathers, approached O’Rourke with a proposition: “What if we had a guitar club? I think there are people who’d be interested in this.”
After Aiden gathered a handful of intrigued students, the club regularly hung out in Ms. Wills’ room. They’d talk guitar, show each other their favorite songs or bands, and have a good time. At one point in time, the club had over twenty students in it, so O’Rourke created a Google Classroom. Students posted and discussed various guitar-related material, such as YouTube videos, books, clips of concerts, or cool tricks.
O’Rourke noted, “There was way more sharing happening in that guitar club Google Classroom than there was in my string classes…I don’t know if there’s a band Google Classroom where people get together and share stuff they find.” After he witnessed the astounding level of student participation, O’Rourke recognized its potential in an actual classroom setting.
He decided to bring his proposal to McGraw, having arguments ready to deploy in favor of the class. Introducing a new class can be very difficult; administrators are busy, and schools are underfunded. However, McGraw was supportive of the class from the get-go.
O’Rourke remarked that “[McGraw] was into it… Part of what I think makes a good leader is having a vision; being able to see things on the horizon that other people can’t see, and saying, ‘let’s go for that.’”
What McGraw saw on the horizon wasn’t class variety, publicity, or a reason on a corporate level; he saw the benefit it has for students. O’Rourke commented, “One of the things we know about predictors of academic success is that if you can get kids involved in things at school, then they’re more invested in school. They care more about it, they want to be more successful, they want to be more around their friends at school, and they commit more life and effort to be good at school; this is why they’re doing the whole club push. The reason they want everybody in a club is because the research shows that it’s good for people’s academic success.”
By these standards, the guitar club could be considered a prime example of the benefits of the club push. Student participation was at a peak, and constructive discussion was going on even outside of club time.
While the guitar club had been a success with students who owned guitars, it had no way to welcome students with zero prior experience with guitars. However, Patrick O’Rourke -- with connections in the music field, stemming from his decades of involvement in music -- knew just who to call that would be willing to help with the lack of instruments… The Son-Rhea Foundation.
The Son-Rhea Foundation is a charity based in Bowling Green, formed with the sole purpose of donating to local school programs. Its active partners are Tony Lindsey, Graham Hudspeth, Kyle Frederick, and David Doris, each with their own musical ventures. O’Rourke first established a relationship with the charity during the fall of 2007. He states, “When I first moved to town, I had a lot more string players sign up for classes in my early years than I had instruments. Greg Lyons, who used to run Royal Music, said ‘You need to call Tony. You need to call Tony Lindsey.’”
Sure enough, the charity had paid for the instruments, and Royal Music had them delivered.
The Country Music Association (CMA) caught wind of the actions of the Son-Rhea Foundation and was impressed by how it operated. The charity operates extremely leanly, especially compared to charities with a CEO who pays himself. There is no headquarters, or staff who are paid to manage it.
O’Rourke said that “... pretty much every dollar that gets donated to them goes back to kids. There’s very little institutional skimming from money that gets donated to them.”
The CMA actually visited the old, pre-demolition Bowling Green High School to witness the effect that the Son-Rhea Foundation had on the music program, and they were escorted by our own Patrick O’Rourke.
The members of the Son-Rhea Foundation have their own anchors in Bowling Green, as further proof that they’re not a charity for publicity’s sake. Tony Lindsey runs the Lindsey Institute of Cosmetology on Shive Lane, and he owns a professional live event production company that produces concerts at Circus Square.
O’Rourke speaks on Tony’s integrity as a partner of the charity, saying, “His heart is in it that much… Tony is not one of those guys that likes to stand up and get his picture taken, and make headlines… These kids will probably never meet Tony, and they might not even know where the instruments came from, but he’s okay with that. He just wants these kids to have a good time and be successful…”
However, as much as the Son-Rhea Foundation wants to be humble and stay in the background, there is always someone in need.
O’Rourke stated, “I want other music educators to know these guys exist. I think there are people sitting in their band, or orchestra, or choir classes thinking, ‘How am I going to make this happen?’ I’m not saying that Tony is the answer to everybody’s problems, but I’m saying that with the Foundation’s efforts, possibilities exist beyond what would normally be.”
At this point in the year, the guitar class has been a success. Thirteen students have signed up, which is an ample number for a class without precedent. The interest in the class was no fluke or fad, either. In an interview with Bowling Green High School senior Cody Reece, he mentions students’ ability to explore their musical interests together during class (if it’s not during instructional time) by playing their songs of choice.
He says, “Me and Nate [Sanders], every day in class, will play ‘Gerudo Valley’ from Ocarina of Time, and the Spongebob Squarepants closing theme because they’re great songs.”
Fellow guitar class student, Alina Mendez, shares a beautiful sentiment about “getting a better relationship with [her] cousins” through music and teaching her dad how to play guitar.
As the guitar class matures and grows in size over time, O’Rourke plans to expand the program to other instruments that are not taught at BGHS.
Cody Reece quotes O’Rourke, saying that this ideal class would be titled something like “rock study.” O’Rourke speculates that the class would consist of “... like what BG Rock Band Academy is doing, but here at school… Again, we have people who want to learn to do it, and we have a guy who can teach it. But can we find enough hours in the day?” The same issue that previously prevented the guitar class’ creation now seems to stand in the way of BGHS rock study.
Fittingly, O’Rourke ended the interview by saying, “Anyway, I don’t know if that’s the next step or not. Maybe I need to get my feet under me right now. We’ll see where that goes.” The future is imperceptible, but with the daily efforts of invested guitar class students and the support of the Son-Rhea Foundation, there are surely extraordinary things to come for Bowling Green High School’s guitar class.
- Owen Somerville
Managing Editor
Feature Writer
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