TeachRock is an education initiative created by the Rock and Roll Forever Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded by musician, actor and activist

Steven Van Zandt Steven Van Zandt (né Lento; born November 22, 1950), also known as Little Steven or Miami Steve, is an American musician and actor. He is a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, in which he plays guitar and mandolin. He has appeared i ...

. The initiative is based in New York City and aims to provide free standards-aligned, arts-integration curriculum and professional development workshops to K-12 schools nationwide.

History

TeachRock was founded in 2002 when Van Zandt began conversing with representatives from the

National Association for Music Education The National Association for Music Education (NAfME) is an organization of American music educators dedicated to advancing and preserving music education as part of the core curriculum of schools in the United States. Founded in 1907 as the Mus ...

, who claimed that by tying funding to testing that did not include arts, the

No Child Left Behind Act The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) was a 2002 United States Act of Congress promoted by the presidential administration of George W. Bush. It reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and included Title I provisio ...

had been devastating to art classes. Eventually, Van Zandt began recruiting a team of

ethnomusicologists Ethnomusicology is the multidisciplinary study of music in its cultural context. The discipline investigates social, cognitive, biological, comparative, and other dimensions. Ethnomusicologists study music as a reflection of culture and investiga ...

, educators and celebrity supporters to contribute to the organization. The Rock and Roll Forever Foundation's founder board includes

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...

Bono Paul David Hewson (born 10 May 1960), known by the nickname Bono ( ), is an Irish singer-songwriter and activist. He is a founding member, the lead vocalist, and primary lyricist of the rock band U2. Bono is known for his impassioned voca ...

Jackson Browne Clyde Jackson Browne (born October 9, 1948) is an American rock musician, singer, songwriter, and political activist who has sold over 30 million albums in the United States. Emerging as a teenage songwriter in mid-1960s Los Angeles, he had his ...

, and

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November17, 1942) is an American filmmaker. One of the major figures of the New Hollywood era, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Martin Scorsese, many accolades, including an Academ ...

.Annual report
teachrock.org In December 2020, TeachRock held its second annual gala to support its mission as well as honor educators across the country who spent the year adjusting to virtual learning amid the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. The virtual event included performances by Bruce Springsteen,

Eddie Vedder Eddie Jerome Vedder (born Edward Louis Severson III; December 23, 1964) is an American singer, musician, and songwriter. He is the lead vocalist, primary lyricist, and one of three guitarists for the rock band Pearl Jam. He was previously a gues ...

Margo Price Margo Rae Price (born April 15, 1983) is an American country singer-songwriter, producer, and author based in Nashville. ''The Fader'' called her "country's next star." Her debut solo album '' Midwest Farmer's Daughter'' was released on Third Ma ...

and others. In April 2021, Connecticut governor

Ned Lamont Edward Miner Lamont Jr. ( ; born January 3, 1954) is an American businessman and politician serving since 2019 as the 89th governor of Connecticut. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as a Greenwich, Con ...

announced that the state's education system would begin a partnership with TeachRock.

Content and reach

As of March 2021, TeachRock had 193 teacher-facing lesson plans and 69 student-facing lesson plans. As an interdisciplinary curriculum provider, TeachRock's lessons cover a wide variety of subjects and topics to engage students including art, civics, math and geography. The lessons are taught using several music genres, ranging from classical to

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

. According to TeachRock's annual report, the initiative reaches approximately 800,000 students per year and hosts over 45,000 online users. Additionally, TeachRock has partnered with several organizations to expand its reach, including the

American Federation of Teachers The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) is the second largest teacher's labor union in America (the largest being the National Education Association). The union was founded in Chicago. John Dewey and Margaret Haley were founders. About 60 pe ...

, the

National Education Association The National Education Association (NEA) is the largest labor union in the United States. It represents public school teachers and other support personnel, faculty and staffers at colleges and universities, retired educators, and college st ...

, the

United Federation of Teachers The United Federation of Teachers (UFT) is the labor union that represents most teachers in New York City public schools. , there were about 118,000 in-service teachers and nearly 30,000 paraprofessional educators in the union, as well as about ...

, the

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...

, the

California Department of Education The California Department of Education is an agency within the government of California that oversees public education. The department oversees funding and testing, and holds local educational agencies accountable for student achievement. Its s ...

, and the

Grammy Museum The Grammy Museum is any of a group of museums containing exhibits relating to winners of the Grammy Award for achievement in recording. The museums in this group include: *The Grammy Museum at L.A. Live, which opened in 2008 in Los Angeles, Cali ...

. The TeachRock Partner District and Schools Program supports school and district-wide adoption of the TeachRock curriculum through a rollout that features professional development and the sharing of arts-integration best practices. Current TeachRock partner districts and schools sites are as follows: * 41 after school sites in New York City, in partnership with New York Edge * Hopatcong Borough Schools, Hopatcong, NJ * Milwaukee Public Schools, Milwaukee, WI * Orangethrope Elementary, Fullerton, CA * 36 after schools sites in Los Angeles, in partnership with ThinkTogether * 3 partner sites in New Mexico, in partnership with TrueKids

Associated events

In 2018, Steven Van Zandt and the Disciples of Soul announced a national tour in support of the TeachRock initiative. The tour included 28 shows which teachers were able to attend for free and also attend a pre-show TeachRock professional development workshop.

References

{{reflist

External links

Official website
Steven Van Zandt Educational organizations established in 2002 2002 establishments in the United States Educational organizations based in the United States Music education organizations Music education in the United States