Bluewater District School Board secondary students and their teachers from Kincardine District Senior School and Saugeen District Senior School celebrated a day of learning and musical collaboration as the culmination of a special project from earlier this year.
A celebration of the Your Voice is Power project involving both schools included approximately 40 student participants at the Bluewater Education Centre in Chesley on Wednesday, April 8, 2026. The day was facilitated by guest presenter, Joshua "Classic Roots" DePerry, an Indigenous DJ, music producer, and performer of Ojibwe/Blackfoot heritage.
Hailing from Long Lake 58 First Nation in Thunder Bay and now based in Toronto, DePerry is known for his ability to fuse electronic music with traditional Indigenous rhythms. His high-energy musical creations are revered as an expression of cultural pride, resilience, and innovation on dance floors. He also brings his infectious and uplifting beats to powwow bootcamps, music production clinics, and youth leadership workshops.
During the day, students learned about DePerry's personal journey, including his past struggles and road to healing and purpose. His inspiring and powerful message blended perfectly with a demonstration of his creative music process using editing software to mix and manipulate beats, vocals, and melodies.
Students were presented with the Earsketch Challenge, inviting them to form groups to create a portion of an original song with an intro, first verse, and chorus that would result in at least one minute of music. To finish the day, the Bluewater's Got Talent showdown featured three contestants/groups who were randomly selected to share their music collaborations. We are pleased and proud to share below a few of the innovative samples that were brought forward.