Steven Van Zandt’s TeachRock initiative is providing Florida educators with free, music-integrated curricula designed to keep students engaged across more than 70 core subjects, WUSF reported.
The Rock and Soul Forever Foundation project, launched in 2007, develops tuition-free lesson plans for kindergarten through 12th grade that weave music into topics ranging from the Cold War and civil rights to the science of sound and math. Van Zandt told WUSF that the “common ground of music” helps teachers capture student attention.
Among the offerings is a four-day Holocaust education course developed with Michael Igel, chair of Florida Commissioner of Education’s Task Force on Holocaust Education. The curriculum, introduced at the Florida Holocaust Museum during Holocaust Education Week, examines Jewish life in Europe before the Holocaust and traces the escalation of antisemitism into Nazi persecution. It includes slide presentations, art lessons, student journaling, and music from artists with Jewish ties such as Kiss, Leonard Cohen, and the Grateful Dead.
Igel said early observations show the material resonates with students, citing one who asked about a future lesson featuring Rush frontman Geddy Lee. Van Zandt said the goal is to create a class students remember, noting that research shows children who participate in music education perform better in core subjects and that liking even one class can improve attendance and graduation rates.
For more information, visit wusf.org.