Press Releases

Bluegrass Music to Teach Students American Culture
Online and in-school program brings technology and the performing arts into classrooms

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS: April 1, 2002—Ocean Challenge, Inc., producers of sitesALIVE!, in partnership with The Wang Center's Suskind Young At Arts educational outreach initiative will announce the development of Bluegrass Live! on Thursday, April 25th at the Boston Renaissance Charter School. With the release of the film O Brother, Where Art Thou and its multi-award winning soundtrack, bluegrass music has received an enormous amount of attention. But how many people knew that this unique American tradition can be used to learn about the history and culture of our nation as well as teach computer technology skills to students? Bluegrass Live!—a full-semester online education program—will provide classrooms, home schools, families and organizations with the content and resources to give children and curious adults a solid introduction to bluegrass music and its link to the history of the United States. The program provides a safe area to develop computer skills from basic operations to multi-media presentation production.

Songwriter and Bluegrass Live! curriculum supervisor Mark Simos believes that "bluegrass music has enormous historical and musical significance in America-it speaks volumes to community, camaraderie, families and the melding of American roots. This is a tremendous opportunity for students to learn America's culture and history through bluegrass." Two of Simos' songs appear on the Grammy® Award-winning Best Bluegrass Album New Favorite by Alison Krauss and Union Station. The curriculum will be supervised by Simos in consultation with Matt Glaser, Strings Chair at Berklee College of Music and Jon Weisberger, musician and bluegrass writer.

Bluegrass Live! will be officially announced at a 45-minute assembly for students and teachers at The Boston Renaissance Charter School on April 25. Simos, Glaser and Boston City Limits—cited on Hillbilly at Harvard of WHRV Radio as "undoubtedly one of the finest groups to have assembled in this area"—will introduce students to the multicultural origins of bluegrass music, instruments, sounds and song themes. Prior to the interactive performance, students, guided by their teachers using the Bluegrass Live! teacher's guide, will participate in an online introductory lesson and activity supporting the disciplines of history, language arts, music and technology. Students will see, hear and learn about the evolution of bluegrass music throughout America's history, and teachers will be able to stress fundamental disciplines to an excited and engaged classroom of children. At a time when schools are incorporating technological resources into their curriculum, Bluegrass Live! is a distinctive way to take advantage of the educational opportunities the Internet brings.

Hosted by www.sitesalive.com, Bluegrass Live! will consist of weekly lessons about the history, instruments, songs and topics related to bluegrass music, accompanied by a LIVE! component to include weekly spotlights of artists touring, recording and performing in the bluegrass community.

"Teachers will quickly learn that bluegrass music is a great vehicle for teaching America's unique heritage," states Rich Wilson, founder and CEO of sitesALIVE! "As schools across the country are cutting their budgets for performing arts programs, an online music program is timely and allows teachers to integrate technology into the curriculum. Using the Internet, students will learn to identify the instruments and sounds, enabling them to appreciate the emergence of bluegrass music in mainstream culture."

Director of Suskind Young At Arts Anne Norton says, "The core of this collaboration is our shared objective to bring arts education to students and communities who don't have the means or opportunity to visit a performing arts venue like The Wang Center. Through Bluegrass Live!, we are proving that the Internet is an effective tool for integrating the arts into the classroom."

sitesALIVE! is a ten-year-old educational website that traditionally links classrooms around the world with student-staffed research expeditions. Bluegrass Live! is the first in a series of online performing arts programs that will be added to the nine other programs including Rainforest Live!, Islands Live! and Class Afloat Live! Future efforts will include collaborations with Suskind Young At Arts and partnerships with other visual and performing arts organizations.

Suskind Young At Arts was founded in 1988 upon the belief that the arts are an essential part of daily life. Its mission is to motivate young people, inspire teachers and bring communities together through innovative programs in the literary, visual and performing arts. In an environment that fosters direct participation and self-expression, Suskind Young At Arts encourages people to approach challenges creatively and to better understand themselves and each other.

To learn more about Bluegrass Live! please visit www.sitesalive.com/bluegrasslive.