Little Steven Van Zandt, a member of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band and former resident of Asbury Park, visited the city’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School. According to the Asbury Park Press, while there, he spoke about his TeachRock learning curriculum with administrators, teachers and students.
TeachRock was founded in 2002 by Van Zandt and offers lesson plans that use the power of music to inspire deeper learning and understanding. TeachRock doesn’t teach music, but rather uses music history as a frame of reference for other subjects. On Tuesday Van Zandt taught a lesson to a class where students studied the protest song “Sun City”. Students used the song as a starting point for further discussion.
The Teachrock curriculum, which is now used in K-12 schools nationwide, was recently adopted by King Middle School in Little Steven’s old town.