Westchester Teachers Win Rock n' Roll HOF Music Training from The Cap, HeadCount

Ten area teachers recently attended the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for training in teaching music, courtesy of The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester and the voter registration and participation group HeadCount.org.

The training was last week in Cleveland, Ohio, and the initiative was part of theCapitol Community Fund, which generates part of the proceeds to send the teachers through auctions. Included in the training are lessons in how to bring rock music into the classroom, while emphasizing activism and rock history.

The 10 teachers who participated in the program are:

Mary Barresi, Lakeland High School in Shrub Oak

Martin Gilbert, Byram Hills High School in Armonk

Naomi Gilbert, Hastings High School in Hastings-on-Hudson

Brian McClintock, Westlake High School in Mount Pleasant

Tiffany Morris, Traphagen Elementary School in Mount Vernon

Suzanne Mosca, Horace Greeley High School in Chappaqua

Richard Salerno, Catholic Iona Preparatory Upper School in New Rochelle

Stan Serafin, Seven Bridges Middle School in Chappaqua

Marshall Toppo, Osborn Elementary School in Rye

Linda Ventura, Port Chester High School in Port Chester

Wednesday night, Iona Prep and The Cap will host a reception for Salerno and the other participants at Garcia’s at the Capitol Theatre at 6 p.m. Below is a press release from Iona Prep about the reception:

For those in Richard Salerno’s history classes at Iona Preparatory School K-12 in New Rochelle, it’s not uncommon for the 24-year educator to drop music references on his students to make a point.

From the Beatles’ “All You Need is Love” for peace treaties, to the Stones’ “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” in disciplinary matters, Salerno knows music plays an integral role in the study of any culture, including our own. So when his wife, Debbie, during a visit to the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, saw that the venue was sponsoring a contest for teachers to attend the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, she knew there was no better candidate than her husband.

“Teaching students about the development of American music is teaching them about a major component of our social history,” Salerno wrote in his scholarship essay to the Capitol Community Fund, a nonprofit managed by the voter awareness and registration organization, HeadCount. “Music is deeply rooted into America’s inner fabric and culture.”

A student himself during the 50s and 60s, who had a chance encounter with Alice Cooper when the rock legend was practicing at The Cap, Salerno now incorporates a rock ‘n’ roll unit into his curriculum. He notes that while movies and songs from that era often pique his students’ curiosity, it is the historical perspective that connects the dots for them.

“Music was a powerful tool of self-expression and an effective way to send a message,” Salerno said, “and it still is today.”

Salerno was joined by nine other area educators at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland July 31 and Aug. 1. In addition to tours of the museum, they attended seminars on topics such as music as a social force and how music impacted social change in the 1980s.

“The educational resources the Hall has are incredible,” said Salerno, who is now contemplating a videoconference with the Hall for his students. “It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

The ten teachers will gather at Garcia’s at the Capitol Theatre on Wednesday, Aug. 6, at 6 p.m. for a celebratory evening recognizing their commitment to music in education.

Click here to read about the training program in a blog on the HeadCount website.