Teach the Beat is a bridge for local artists to share their gifts with students. They want to give back and they have the creative juices to connect with students and professionals. Teach the Beat creates the avenue for these relationships.
—Jonas Strickland

This Spring, our Teach the Beat program brought renowned go-go artists to 27 classrooms, serving approximately 550 students throughout D.C. public schools virtually and in-person. The artists taught go-go history and engaged young people (and often their families who hopped in during the online classes!) in making music with found objects at home. 

This was made possible with the support of the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities; the DC Office of Cable TV, Film, Music and Entertainment; and the D.C. Public Library.  

The artist's visits to the classroom brought back memories for some teachers of their youth when they would sneak out of the house to attend the go-go. Other teachers, not from the D.C. area and new to the go-go experience, were provided the opportunity to learn about D.C. official music along with their students. All these interactions culminated with a similar outcome — JOY. 

In a time when students and educators have had to adjust to health, safety, and social protocols within their schools and communities, go-go artists brought renewed hope into the classroom. The artists shared their love for go-go, despite being overlooked by the mainstream music industry. This sense of pride, passion, and resilience provided inspiration to school communities. Shenora Plenty, principal of Wheatley Education Campus, stated that the Teach the Beat class visit was, “one of the best days of the school year for [ her] students, ” and they would definitely like a return visit in the fall. Teach the Beat is providing more than go-go music education in the classroom — it’s also bringing inspiration and tenacity to schools as they end this enduring learning season.

Lila Chafe, intern for Teaching for Change, had the unique experience of participating in these virtual classroom visits throughout the summer. Lila shares her highlights of participating in Teach the Beat:

This summer I witnessed countless virtual classrooms welcome fantastic teaching artists into their learning space, navigating the challenges of Zoom and Microsoft Teams so that their students could immerse themselves in music and history. Teachers got to share their passion for music with students, and even better, student’s families often joined in to celebrate their city’s history. Watching students pick up the distinction between pocket and bounce beats, sing along to famous go-go songs, and recount their understanding of go-go stars with the help of teaching artists was incredible. 

In person classrooms exploded with music and engagement as teaching artists encouraged students to experiment with new rhythms and sounds, and this creativity carried into Zoom calls where homemade instruments were used instead. Although it was often difficult to successfully play music together due to distancing efforts, students engaged with call-and-response, giving the artists energy and interest to continue the lesson. 

Most importantly, students looked proud when they were told that the artists were graduates of their county (and sometimes school!) and that go-go was theirs to transform. 

Students and teachers shared feedback on the visits:

It was a great experience, the students learned a lot about the history of go-go and its importance to our city.

The visit was lovely and the kids seemed to really enjoy it. I can't wait to have you visit again when we are in person.

It was a very nice experience considering our circumstances. Both the students and I learned something new about go-go and got to hear and learn about an all-girl go-go band.

It was awesome, all of the teachers felt like this was a great experience for the kids and we want them to come in person next year.

I am beyond grateful for the opportunity to participate in Teach the Beat. Not only did the students learn so much, but we had fun and achieved something that I feel is so important — preserving, amplifying, and protecting go-go as a D.C. institution, agent for unity, organizing, energizing, and joy as it tackles racist policies and conditions that perpetuate violence and oppression.

Check out some of the stories from this year’s classroom visits:

Charles Stephenson visits Phelps ACE High School

Sweet Cherie visits Beers Elementary School

JuJu visits Coolidge High School

Program Specialists Perspectives

Thanks to the funding from the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities and the DC Office of Cable TV, Film, Music and Entertainment, we hired Teach the Beat program specialists Jonas Strickland and Matt Miller. They hit the ground running, scheduling artists for DCPS classroom visits and coordinating a three-part video series with the D.C. Public Library.

Jonas and Matt share highlights of being part of the Teach the Beat team.

Jonas Strickland

This endeavor to share the historical and musical impact of go-go music to students in Washington, D.C., has been so fulfilling and worthwhile. As a Washingtonian, it is refreshing to see this renewed sense of interest from educators to bring go-go music into their classrooms and school community in the midst of various in-person, virtual, and hybrid learning schedules and protocols. 

While this program is designed to teach go-go music to the youth, the joy that go-go music has brought teachers has been equally if not more encouraging. During a time in history when teachers’ values have never been more pronounced due to a global pandemic, go-go teaching artists have brought nostalgia, hope, and a greater connection between teachers and students. 

A high school teacher remembered the time when she used to leave the house to sneak out to the go-go. Another middle school teacher, who moved to the area from Texas, was familiar with the genre, but wanted to learn more about go-go and how the music could inspire student advocacy. And these are just a few stories of how go-go is bringing delight to our greatest human resource — teachers. This program is changing lives, one beat at a time.

Matt Miller

I’ve been a fan and follower of Teach the Beat since 2013 when as a music instructor, I attended the first teach-in. I was really impressed with the artist breakout sessions, each sharing a different area of their knowledge and expertise in go-go music. I had been educating youth and adults about African drumming and rhythms throughout the diaspora and thought that this was a very important initiative for our unique culture here in D.C. That experience sold me and when I saw there was an opportunity to join the team, I jumped in. I was honored to be given the opportunity. 

My experience with Teach the Beat has truly worked out in my favor, as I’ve been blessed with amazing colleagues in Jonas Strickland and Keesha Ceran. It has been an absolute pleasure collaborating with them and learning from them, as well. I really love how Teach the Beat allows us to creatively implement ways to forward this initiative, utilizing our ideas to be shared with other artists, teachers, and children. The teaching artists have all expressed to me how excited and happy they are to be a part of this program, as well. One of the biggest highlights is knowing and seeing how involved and passionate the teaching artists are.They know they matter. 

Although I know many of the teaching artists personally with go-go being a small world, I have been honored to meet new teaching artists and learn new things through their own individual areas of specialty. All of them seem to be really receptive to positive feedback on how we can apply teaching go-go to our youth. 

Another highlight was our visit to the DC Public Library (DCPL) as we prepared for the current Go-Go Sound of Summer series. I’m looking forward to building and maintaining an effective partnership with DCPL, as I believe this is one that will grow beyond measures.

Time together is joyful as the team dreams big on how Teach the Beat can grow and engage educators, classrooms, and community in the sound of the region and the official music of D.C. Jonas and Matt have added to our knowledge as they share new books, songs, and ideas to engage us in this experience.

“Teach the Beat: Go-Go Goes to School: Artists and Scholars in the Classroom” is designed to infuse D.C.’s rich and unique tradition of go-go in the curriculum. Go-go performers and scholars provide in-school coaching to D.C. public and public charter school teachers and students in music, social studies, and language arts classrooms.