Middle school students in Portage la Prairie will get a taste of band class. Portage la Prairie School Division superintendent Todd Cuddington spoke to the Portage Rotary Club luncheon today and says the program's about generating interest in music for high school band.

"It's a way to generate a little more interest from the younger years," he explains. "Hopefully, that'll transfer into the high school. That eighth year -- we really want to catch kids interest. And that's why the industrial arts is an opportunity that they get at those upper grades, too. And the same goes with band."

He notes numbers in high school band have dropped slightly, and this is a means of proactively raising and increasing interest in it. Two PCI teachers will be moving into new roles in the community schools to support their band programs.