Launched by Stevie Van Zandt with the Founders Board of Bono, Jackson Browne, Martin Scorsese, and Bruce Springsteen, Teachrock.org has provided free, standards-aligned resources to help teachers, students, and families succeed for more than a decade.

TeachRock improves students’ lives by bringing the sound, stories, and science of music to all classrooms. From The Beatles to Beyoncé, from kindergarten to AP History, in the classroom or remotely, TeachRock offers meaningful lesson plans all at no cost to teachers, students, and families, inspiring deeper learning and understanding through the power of music.

TeachRock.org is an open educational resource of hundreds of unit and lesson plans, Student Editions, and musician bios. TeachRock’s “Rock and Soul of America” high school history course is taught throughout California, Colorado, New Mexico, Ohio, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and elsewhere.

More than 60,000 educators representing over 30,000 schools in all 50 U.S. states, England, Spain, Norway and elsewhere are registered with Teachrock.org.

TeachRock’s Partner School program includes a multi-year collaboration with the Connecticut State Department of Education, ongoing projects with New York City Department of Education, Los Angeles Unified School District, Chattanooga, TN public schools, as well as with individual schools in Chicago, Cleveland, Milwaukee, and several others.

Stevie Van Zandt founded TeachRock to keep music and arts in the DNA of school systems and empower teachers to engage a generation with the internet in their pockets. Stevie saw music as the way to present positive representations of all learners, make real-life connections between the classroom and student experiences, and inspire student success.  

More than 85% of teachers surveyed report heightened enthusiasm in TeachRock classrooms. TeachRock’s curriculum has been highlighted by The Washington Post, The New Yorker, Education Week, and many others.

TeachRock functions as part of the 501(c)(3) The Rock and Soul Forever Foundation and is endorsed by the National Council for the Social Studies, the National Association for Music Education, the National Council for Geographic Education, and has collaborated with and partnered on projects with The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, The Grammy Museum, Scholastic, CNN, PBS, ABC News, among others. 

Why TeachRock Matters: Click HERE for A Message from Stevie Van Zandt

Watch a class in action | TeachRock at a Glance

READ OUR ANNUAL REPORT

Donations

In order to provide TeachRock free-of-charge to educators everywhere, the Rock and Soul Forever Foundation needs support. We hope that you can help us meet our needs so that we can continue to develop our educational materials and extend our outreach to teachers and students across the country.

Click here to donate to TeachRock

For general inquiries and our temporary mailing address: Contact us at donate@teachrock.org

FOUNDERS BOARD

  • Steven Van Zandt, Founder
  • Jackson Browne
  • Martin Scorsese
  • Bono
  • Bruce Springsteen

STAFF

  • Bill Carbone, Executive Director
  • Rolando Alvarado, Chief Operating Officer
  • Triza Cox, Program Manager
  • Ben Dumbauld, Director of Content
  • Carly Gorra, Media & Production Manager
  • Michael-Ann Haders, VP of Advancement
  • Amanda Harris, Curriculum Specialist
  • Kiara Langdon, Data & Communications Manager
  • Gina Machado, Director of Programs & Partnerships
  • Imani Wilson, Chief Strategy & Innovation Officer
  • Julia Tessler, Program Manager
  • Joshua Zarbo, Associate Director of Content

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

  • Vagn Sørensen, Chair
  • Sandy Alouete
  • Susie Buffett
  • Jon Harris
  • Kevin Keyes
  • Dr. Joely Proudfit
  • David Roth
  • Maureen Van Zandt
  • Steven Van Zandt

LEADERSHIP COUNCIL

  • Rick Buck, Chair
  • Michael Block
  • Greg Damico
  • Howard Dessau
  • David Haas
  • David Lubliner
  • Andy Rhodes
  • David Rubin
  • Jeff Rusnak
  • Richard Wilkinson
  • Josh Wachs

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We’d like to thank the following partners for contributing valuable media content to TeachRock lesson plans –

  • ABC News Video Source
  • Amazon Films
  • Association for Cultural Equity
  • Reelin’ in the Years
  • Rezolution Pictures
  • Rock’s BackPages
  • Show of Force

We’d like to thank the following partners for contributing photography to TeachRock lesson plans –

Contact

For all donation, event, and fundraising queries, please contact Michael-Ann Haders, michael@teachrock.org

For questions about professional development, school partnerships, or TeachRock’s social-emotional learning program, please contact Gina Machado, gina@teachrock.org

For general inquiries, info@teachrock.org

Interested in contributing a lesson plan to TeachRock, please reach out to the content team at content@teachrock.org