Group uses music to beat mischief
Program aims to help troubled kids find inspiration and sense of purpose through music
McClatchy Newspapers
CARL JUSTE / MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS
Gibson Guimesly, 13, left, practices making a clear note with music instructor Chad Bernstein in the hallway outside the classroom door, Bernstein, trombonist with Spam AllStars and Suenalo, has launched and is teaching GOGO, Guitars Over Guns Operation, a program at North Miami Middle which aims to mentor and teach kids to deal with/ violence.
By Jordan Levin
MIAMI — Edrice Gerbier is small for 11, though he usually makes up for it with an explosion of noise and motion. But the memory of two friends kicking another boy as he lay on the ground can stop him cold. "They were kicking on him 'cause he was small," Edrice whispers, standing taut and still.
On this recent day, however, nothing can stop the diminutive live-wire, who is flying around a small classroom at North Miami Middle School banging assuredly on drum pads, clamoring for his turn on a keyboard, exuberantly making himself heard.
Once a week after school, Edrice and a dozen classmates let go of their worries by making music with GOGO, Guitars Over Guns Operation, a program created by Chad Bernstein, a Ph.D candidate at the University of Miami's Frost School of Music and trombonist for popular Miami bands Spam Allstars and Suenalo Sound System.
Bernstein, 26, has worked without pay on GOGO for more than two years, aiming to help this small group of kids — and eventually, he hopes, many more — find the inspiration and sense of purpose he discovered in