Rock and Roll a hit with students

0

Gifted students in Bowling Green are visiting the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame without leaving their
classroom.
Laura Weaver’s sixth-grade PACE students are spending four weeks "visiting" the Hall of Fame
via a distance learning lab at the middle school.
The program started Tuesday with "The Big Bang: The Birth of Rock and Roll," led by HOF
education coordinator John Goehrke.
During the hour-long session, students were introduced to the beginning of rock and roll and artists
Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard and Chuck Berry.
When Goehrke asked for related definitions learned by students, Ethan Brown’s hand went up and he defined
"rhythm" while Miram Yun defined "segregation."
Students learned that the term "rock and roll" was first used by DJ Alan Freed in 1951, and the
music exploded among teens but was viewed as trouble by adults who thought it was a bad influence.
The class examined the importance of technology, teen culture, race and geography in the popularization
of rock and roll and watched movie clips of each star.
When Elvis first appeared on TV in 1956, he "helped to take rock and roll to new heights," said
Goehrke.
Later that year when he appeared on the Milton Berle Show, his hip swinging to "Hound Dog" had
girls screaming and parents frowning.
"The performance that shakes the whole world up," Goehrke said after showing the TV clip.
Students agreed with him that the performance was pretty tame to what they see today.
Parents feared the music would lead to youngsters breaking the law and going to jail, Goehrke said.
Meanwhile, "kids thought this was the best thing ever."
Goehrke then showed the beginning of the film "High School Confidential," that featured a cameo
by Lewis, who opens the movie singing a song of the same name; and then Goehrke introduced students to
"Tutti Frutti" by Little Richard. The song, incidentally, was recorded weeks later by Pat
Boone, who actually sold more copies than Little Richard, who wrote the song.
Student Almah-Luce Drummer said she liked the Boone version better because it was more jazzy.
Goehrke also showed performances by both artists.
"His version of rock and roll was more safe," Goehrke said about Boone.
But Little Richard singing rock and roll created a great unifying sound, Goehrke continued. Prior to
Little Richard, audiences were either all black or all white and no one else could come in. His success
enabled audiences of both races to enter the building, albeit still segregated but come together to
dance by the show’s end.
The musician showed that "music had no racial boundaries," Goehrke said.
With Berry, Goehrke showed how geography affected rock and roll. Berry was from St. Louis yet signed with
a record label in Chicago then had a hit with "Memphis, Tennessee."
Goehrke then showed all the big record labels from the late 1950s, from Cleveland and Detroit, to
Memphis, New Orleans and Los Angeles.
"If it weren’t for teens, rock and roll wouldn’t be around today," said Brown after the class.

Drummer was impressed with how the music broke the race barrier.
"Even how they gave up on the segregation thing (earlier) than adults did," was why Drummer
liked the program.
The next three sessions, held Tuesdays from 1:15 to 2:15 p.m. in BGMS Room 2120, include:
• "Taking Care of Business: An Introduction to Financial Literacy" which will have students
apply math and financial concepts to help manage a fictional band through a cross-country tour. As tour
manager, they’ll have to decide on what expenses to budget for, and where will the revenue come from.

• "Great Moments in Rock and Roll: Popular Music Through the Decades" will walk the class
through an extensive vocabulary list as well as key events – historical, technological and cultural –
and have them build their own timeline using feature events. After the class, students will create a
similar timeline that compares significant national and world events with moments in the history of rock
and roll.
• "Women Who Rock: Songwriting and Points of View" will have students discussing how musicians
convey personal feelings as well as depict social and political issues. Students will analyze the lyrics
and music of the Crystals, Aretha Franklin, Patti Smith and Sara Bareilles and learn the role women
played in the history of rock and roll.
The series is being paid for by a $500 Bowling Green Schools Foundation grant and $100 from the PACE
budget.
Weaver got the idea for the series at an Ohio Education Association technology conference in Columbus
last year.
She said the Rock and Roll program covers all state standards plus music.
Weaver invites all parents and district administrators to attend any of the classes.

No posts to display