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Founding
The Rock & Roll Library (RRL) was founded in Boston, Massachusetts in 1999.
The Official Web site of the Rock & Roll Library, www.Rocklibrary.com
debuted online in June 1999.
Approved for 501(c)3 Non-profit status on October 18, 1999.
Original Curriculum
In 2000, in celebration of the 60th anniversary of John Lennon's birth, the
Rock & Roll Library commissioned Smithsonian Research Scholar Jon Lohman to
create the first original Rock & Roll Library curriculum entitled the
"Imagine Poetry and Mural Lesson," based on Lennon's song "Imagine." This
lesson is available in the Teacher Resource Center.
The First Annual Lesson Contest held in 2000 generated 8 lessons which are
available for free download in the Teacher Resource Center on this Web site.
The First Song Lesson Contest held in 2001 generated 4 lessons based on Melissa
Etheridge's song "Scarecrow." The lessons include a poetry analysis, a survey
of human rights violations in the United States, a tolerance lesson using art
as the expressive form and another using writing and dance. These lessons are
available in the Teacher Resource Center.
Public Arts Initiative
The Rock & Roll Library implemented a community outreach plan in 2001 to
provide free visits from the RRL highlighting our education programs to local
schools and organizations. The RRL will identify candidates, extend
invitations, secure funding and provide teachers, artists, and supplies needed
for the visits. The outreach plan is designed in this way to eliminate the
burden of funding from the decision making process for the invited organization
or school. The RRL will extend invitations based on our commitment to making
our programs available in all venues to all socio-economic communities.
The Rock & Roll Library announced the creation of the first RRL Public Arts
Initiative, the Imagine Mural Project based on the "Imagine Poetry and Mural
Lesson" written for the RRL by Dr. Jon Lohman.
100.7 WZLX Radio in Boston signed on as the Official Radio Station of the
Imagine Mural Project and promoted the project on the air for various occasions
throughout the summer and fall of 2001.
The Rock & Roll Library successfully conducted three community outreach
visits of the Imagine Mural Project in 2001. With the help of sponsors
including 100.7 WZLX Radio in Boston, Harvard University, Rock & Roll
Library Board of Director John Norcross, Citizen's Bank, Sears, and Home Depot,
the RRL provided free visits to Children's Hospital, Boston Public Elementary
School James Garfield and a summer writing program to create a unique Imagine
Mural in each location.
In recognition of the Imagine Mural Project, Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino
declared Oct. 9, 2001 (the sixty-first anniversary of John Lennon's birth)
"Imagine Day" in the City of Boston.
The RRL is included in Japanese Public Television's documentary "Imagine: Song
of the Millennium" which aired on April 11, 2002 nationwide in Japan. The
documentary includes classroom footage of a RRL Imagine Mural visit, and
interviews with RRL Executive Director Anne Fitzpatrick, Yoko Ono and Sean Ono
Lennon.
Annual Lesson Contest
The Annual Lesson Contest was created in 2000. The annual contest challenges
educators to integrate popular music and education by creating an original
lesson plan based on a popular song. The winning lessons from our first contest
are available for free download on this web site in the
Teacher Resource Center.
The Rock & Roll Library announced the Second Annual Lesson Contest in 2001.
Contest Deadline is September 6, 2002.
Song Lesson Contest
The Song Lesson Contest was created in 2001. Narrowing the scope of the Annual
Lesson Contest, the Song Lesson Contest challenges educators to create a lesson
plan in any area of academic study that integrates the Rock & Roll Library
selected theme song.
In 2001 the Rock & Roll Library announced "Scarecrow," by Melissa Etheridge
had been selected as the theme song of the first Song Lesson Contest. The
contest received the endorsement of Melissa Etheridge, Matthew's parents Judy
and Dennis Shepard, the Matthew Shepard Foundation, Amnesty International,
GLAAD, GLSEN, Leadership Conference Education Fund, the NAACP and SHiNE.
The Rock & Roll Library announced the winner of the "Scarecrow" Song Lesson
Contest December 19, 2001. Melissa Etheridge and the RRL will visit Song Lesson
Contest Grand Prize winner Laura Stegmuller at Thomas O. Hopkins Middle School
in the spring of 2002. The winning lessons are available in the
Teacher Resource Center.
On April 11, 2002 the Rock & Roll Library delivered the Grand Prize of the
"Scarecrow" Song Lesson Contest to winner Laura Stegmuller at Thomas O. Hopkins
Middle School in Burlington, NJ. Governor McGreevey of New Jersey proclaimed
this day "Tolerance Day" in recognition of this project.
The event included a discussion panel on Tolerance featuring Melissa Etheridge,
Michael Heflin Director of Amnesty International's OUTFront program, from Human
Rights Watch, co-author of Hatred in the Hallways, A. Widney Brown, and
our winner eighth grade English teacher Laura Stegmuller.
The evening also featured a Student SpeakOut event facilitated by SHiNE
(Seeking Harmony in Neighborhoods Everwhere). The SpeakOut used music genres to
address stereotyping. Students engaged in a conversation about discrimination
and how it can lead to violence. They also discussed alternative ways attitudes
can be expressed and violence avoided.
The Rock & Roll Library published the "Scarecrow" Song Lesson Book. This
lesson book for teachers is a collection of the four winning "Scarecrow" Song
Lesson Contest Lessons with "Scarecrow" lyrics, a letter to students from
Matthew Shepard's mother, and information on additional human rights resources
for teaching tolerance.
Music Archive Database
Completion of the Music Archive Database design took place in 2000 and we
continue to work towards the completion of the online archive. The Music
Archive Database can be viewed in demo form in the Library at
www.Rocklibrary.com.
A CD ROM demo of the Music Archive Database was produced in 2001 through a
substantial donation from Blue Note Technology in Somerville, MA.
Find out more
Read what colleagues are saying about the Rock & Roll Library on our
Accolades page.
Join!
Become a member or sponsor of the Rock & Roll Library today!
Click here for Membership
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