originally published: 08/22/2023
Stevie Van Zandt visits TeachRock Partner School, Orangethorpe Elementary in Fullerton, CA. Photo by Wes Kriesel
(WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ) -- The Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music at Monmouth University and E Street Band guitarist Steve Van Zandt's TeachRock education program will join forces to assist teachers in bringing American popular music into classrooms across the country.
For years, TeachRock has created curricula for nearly all grade levels and has demonstrated the importance of integrating American music with civics, literature, history, sociology, and other scholastic courses.
“Forming a partnership with the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music will only increase opportunities for students and teachers alike,” said Bill Carbone, Executive Director of the Rock and Roll Forever Foundation, which oversees TeachRock. “Both institutions share the same goals when it comes to education and the role music plays in it.”
“We’re truly excited to link arms with Stevie Van Zandt and the TeachRock team,” said Bob Santelli, Executive Director of the Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music. “As a former teacher myself, I know how effective TeachRock has been in the education arena. We hope to bring to the partnership ideas and programs that will make both TeachRock and the Archives more educationally productive than ever.”
Examples of future collaborations will include teacher workshops, student internships, seminars and conferences, curriculum development and joint research activities. Integrating the arts into the curriculum through meaningful and engaging lesson plans will begin locally in the Asbury Park Middle School and High School with the Harmony Student Wellness program.
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The Bruce Springsteen Archives serves as the official repository for the music and legacy of Bruce Springsteen, plus photographs, periodicals, oral histories, rare recordings, films, and artifacts related to Springsteen and the E Street Band. The Center preserves and promotes the legacy of Bruce Springsteen and his role in American music, while honoring and celebrating icons of American music like Woody Guthrie, Robert Johnson, Frank Sinatra, Gaslight Anthem, The Killers, and others. The collection serves the research and informational needs of music fans, scholars, authors, and others with a serious interest in the life and career of Bruce Springsteen.
In addition, the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music demonstrates its role in curating our vast music history by providing impactful educational and public programs and by curating museum exhibitions, symposia and seminars, teacher workshops, concerts, internships, and various public programs to promote and celebrate the many forms of American music and their impact on our culture and national identity.
Launched by Stevie Van Zandt with the Founders Board of Bono, Jackson Browne, Martin Scorsese, and Bruce Springsteen, Teachrock.org has provided free, standards-aligned resources to help teachers, students, and families succeed for more than a decade. TeachRock recently launched the organization’s star-studded Artist Council which includes Erykah Badu, Common, Sheryl Crow, Peter Gabriel, Norah Jones, DJ Khaled, Skip Marley, Darryl McDaniels, Melle Mel, Margo Price, Rapsody, Gina Schock, Marty Stuart, and Taboo of the Black-Eyed Peas -- to participate in lesson plans, be hands on with students and educators, and to engage with fans to shine a light on TeachRock’s mission.
TeachRock improves students’ lives by bringing the sound, stories, and science of music to all classrooms. From The Beatles to Beyoncé, from kindergarten to AP History, in the classroom or remotely, TeachRock offers meaningful lesson plans, all at no cost to teachers, students, and families, inspiring deeper learning and understanding through the power of music.
Stevie Van Zandt founded TeachRock to keep music and arts in the DNA of school systems and empower teachers to engage a generation with the internet in their pockets. Stevie saw music as the way to present positive representations of all learners, make real-life connections between the classroom and student experiences, and inspire student success.
TeachRock.org is an open educational resource of hundreds of unit and lesson plans, Student Editions, and musician bios. TeachRock’s “Rock and Soul of America” high school History course is taught throughout California, Colorado, New Mexico, Ohio, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and elsewhere.
More than 60,000 educators in over 30,000 schools in all 50 U.S. states, England, Spain, Norway, and elsewhere are registered with Teachrock.org. TeachRock’s Partner School program includes a multi-year collaboration with the Connecticut State Department of Education, ongoing projects with New York City Department of Education, Los Angeles Unified School District, Chattanooga, TN public schools, as well as with individual schools in Chicago, Cleveland, Milwaukee, and several others. More than 85% of teachers surveyed report heightened enthusiasm in TeachRock classrooms.
