Long Island Music Hall Of Fame Partners With Steven Van Zandt For TeachRock

STONY BROOK, NY — The Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame is partnering with rock and roll legend Steven Van Zandt of the E Street Band for the benefit of his TeachRock organization museum officials announced in a news release.

Van Zandt launched TeachRock, along with Bruce Springsteen, Bono, Jackson Browne, and Martin Scorsese in 2002, offering free, standards-aligned resources that use music to help K-12 students succeed in science, math, social studies, and language arts, according to officials.

Nearly 60,000 educators from across the United States are registered at Teachrock.org, officials said.

"We know that if you want a kid to succeed, you don’t tell her to take her earbuds out,” Van Zandt said. “You ask her what she’s listening to, and then you trace it back together. Kids come to us with the natural gift of curiosity, and the TeachRock curriculum helps teachers meet them there on the way to meaningful learning.”

Van Zandt, known as Stevie or Little Steven, created the sound of the Jersey Shore with the Asbury Jukes and later founded Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band before starting a solo career leading Little Steven and his Disciples of Soul, according to his biography on his website. He played Silvio Dante on "The Sopranos" and starred in, co-wrote, and produced "Lilyhammer."

He was given the museum's Harry Chapin Award in 2016.

Tom Needham, the museum's educational programs director, said TeachRock aligns perfectly with its "commitment to education and encouraging more music, arts, and culture being taught in local school districts.”

“Our shared goal is to encourage more Long Island, Brooklyn and Queens school districts to adopt the TeachRock curriculum and lesson plans for the cultural enrichment of its students,” he said.

TeachRock has been successfully incorporated on Long Island in the Freeport School District.

“Personally, I think every teacher should be using the TeachRock curriculum, and we have found that our Freeport students in all grades love the content,” Stephanie Arnell, a Freeport teacher who has been using TeachRock with her students for years.

The museum plans to promote TeachRock curriculum throughout the Long Island, Brooklyn, and Queens school districts through a monthly email blast/web, as well as posting a monthly webpage news blast to highlight different TeachRock lessons for each month, officials said.

In fall 2023, the museum plans to host TeachRock teacher training sessions at its recently opened home base location in Stony Brook with the hope that participating schools will visit the museum for class field trips.

Bill Carbone, executive director at TeachRock, said the organization hears a lot "about declining participation and engagement, and how that results in lower math and reading scores."

“But nearly everywhere a TeachRock class is implemented we see the opposite: engagement and grades are rising, and often the school ends up adding additional TeachRock courses to meet student demand," he said. "It’s a paradigm shift: Students aren’t cutting class; they’re clamoring to get in!”

Teachers interested in learning more can visit https://www.limusichalloffame.org/teachrock/ or email info@limusichalloffame.org

For more information about LIMEHoF’s education programs please visit www.limehof.org