For decades, Steven Van Zandt has wowed audiences with his performances.
You may know him from playing guitar and singing with Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band or portraying Silvio Dante on the iconic gangster TV series “The Sopranos.”
The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer has another side to him, too: educator. His TeachRock curriculum provides music-focused lessons on a range of issues.
Van Zandt joins “Florida Matters Live & Local” to discuss the genesis and effectiveness of the program.
A current TeachRock project is called “Jewish heritage and the Holocaust: exploring an enduring culture through music.” It is in partnership with the Florida Commission of Education's Task Force on Holocaust Education.
By using music by performers such as Kiss frontman Gene Simmons and Leonard Cohen, students become engaged and excited about learning, Michael Igel, board chair emeritus of the Florida Holocaust Museum in St. Petersburg, tells host Matthew Peddie.
Van Zandt says the first goal is to get and keep a children’s interest.
“These kind of subjects — especially this subject — can be obviously heavy and a bit depressing. Shouldn’t the music reflect that?” Van Zandt has been asked. “No, it’s quite the opposite. You want something up and positive and optimistic about learning.”
Then you bring in the heavy subject.
“But you start out with Gene Simmons with his tongue out,” Van Zandt laughs. “That’s the way you begin a lesson. You want to reach the kids. We have an intention here. It’s not just wasting an hour in school.”
Also on the program:
- A pilot and an engineer offer expertise about what may have led to the horrific Learjet crash in South Florida.
- New College’s alumni and faculty have been asking about the university’s plans to manage increased debt from the absorption of USF Sarasota-Manatee. We get an update.
- The election is over, but a new poll suggests voters who supported both candidates had some common ground about what they want from the state’s next governor.
GUESTS:
- Kerry Sheridan, WUSF reporter
- Andrew Mikula. Pioneer Institute chief housing economist
- Caitlin Farley, pilot and owner of A1 Aeronauticals in Clearwater
- Jeff Ostroff, former electrical engineer and YouTube personality
- Michael Igel, Florida Holocaust Museum board chair emeritus and chair of the Florida Commissioner of Education's Task Force on Holocaust Education
- Steven Van Zandt, musician and actor
