Gala Recap

On December 21, we celebrated our nationâ€s educators. 2020 was rife with challenges, many of which required creative, none-too-simple solutions. Per usual, teachers didnâ€t skip a beat and neither did you when we came calling for your support.

Non-teachers often look at the profession as a trade through which educators impart students with facts and help them pass tests. But what we see at TeachRock is different. We see teachers helping young people uncover their own truths, and arming them with the skills theyâ€ll need to navigate a life of free will. That is a tremendous responsibility. 

As our Founder Steven Van Zandt put it, “Teachers are the plainclothes superheroes in our midst. They deserve to be heard and celebrated.”

Thatâ€s not hyperbole, and the thousands of teachers we work with yearly are the proof. We couldnâ€t support those teachers and their students without you. Thank you for being a part of our movement to Stand With Teachers in 2020, and always. 

Like everything in 2020, we had to approach our gala event differently. But what at first seemed an insurmountable challenge became a silver lining, and our TeachRock staff rallied around the idea of celebrating educators by telling their stories through the Stand With Teachers event. And that silver lining turned platinum when the event was supported by superstars such as Jackson Browne, Tom Morello, Margo Price, Bruce Springsteen, Eddie Vedder, and so many others. We thank them and their contemporaries for pledging their commitment to teachers across the country.

With your support we raised more than $700,000 that night, funds that will enable the launch of exciting 2021 projects like the upcoming bilingual elementary music curriculum and our first ever Algebra unit, which features media of instrumentalists from around the world from Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hartâ€s Planet Drum ensemble. It will also empower us to continue working with teachers and districts to integrate the arts in every classroom. 

We are honored to continue to provide essential support to educators, students, and families during Covid–a record number of new and returning users have downloaded nearly 500,000 TeachRock resources in 2020. We anticipate this number to grow even more in 2021. 

As we look toward 2021, letâ€s keep that positive change going, one classroom at a time.