If we had a dime for every time someone has said, “I wish we would have had Academy of Rock when I was a kid…”

Yes, we hear that a lot.  It’s usually said not long after some of the coolest kids we know get up on stage and completely rock the crowd.  No one is expecting a bunch of kids to play like that.  ”Wow, these kids can really Rock!”  It still puts a smile on my face after being around the program for almost 6 years, but I’m still constantly impressed with the talent our young musicians have, the energy and passion put into the music, and all the great people we’ve had the opportunity to meet.  Not that long ago, we had about 12 kids in the program and we were experimenting with our very first songs.  Now there are over 100 kids (K-12) from over 20 schools and 5 cities and we’ve covered 100’s of songs and probably written just as many.  How did this ever happen?

It all started in the Fall of 2005 when I worked with the YMCA here in Lincoln.  I was the Program Director for the Lefler Community Learning Center and we were in the process of exploring interesting ways to get teens involved with after school programs.  About the same time, a couple of girls from the program stopped by the office to say, “hi.”  I learned that they recently had birthdays and received electric guitars for presents from their parents.  Both said they were so happy, but didn’t know to play.  They weren’t interested in going to lessons.

They wanted to learn the music they loved.   They wanted to learn to play the music together.  That’s how Academy of Rock began.

I put out an add to Lincoln Musicians to see who would be interested in teaching and developing a program like this.  One of my first interviews was with Nick Tarlowski.

Nick didn’t so much interview, he more or less told me he was THE guy for the class.   He played in several local rock bands, had toured the US, recorded, he had the type of personality anyone can love… he was totally THE guy.

Nick introduced me to Doug Fenton of Dietze Music and he believed in the concept so much he donated our first set of gear so the kids could play.  Kelly Schrad, the principal of Lefler took a major chance by letting us have the classes in the school cafeteria.  All the pieces were in place.

We came out with a whole bunch of cool, art based programs that semester that filled up with kids exploring what they loved the most.  But the most popular class of them all was our “School of Rock” class.  The kids loved coming after school and playing Green Day songs as loud as they could.  It was cool, it was fun, it became a badge of honor for them.

It didn’t take long for us to grow the program from 15 to nearly 45 kids after school at Lefler.  The kids were learning tons of music and getting pretty good at it.  We began taking the kids out of the cafeteria and having them play concerts for the public at places like Knickerbockers and various YMCA festivals.

In the Spring of 2006 I left Lincoln and moved to Portland, Oregon to become Program Director for the YMCA there.  It was a major promotion for me, maybe a bit too major.  I loved the city and the people I worked with but really missed my family and the great programs I had started in Lincoln.

On a really tough, day I got a phone call from my old friend Kodi Bonesteel, the Executive Director for the Northeast Family Center back in Lincoln.  Half joking she told me I should come back and work for her.  She told me I could try to start up a Rock program.  About 2 months later I was back in Lincoln calling up Nick Tarlowski, Bob Okamoto (who volunteered at Lefler), Craig Reier (another Rock teacher), and Doug Fenton from Dietze.  In addition, my boss from the Y in Lincoln (Benjamin Zink) was working with Kodi and he had set us up with an opportunity to build programs at Irving Middle School under principal Hugh McDermott.  Again, everyone came through.  We had everything we needed to begin a new School of Rock.

As expected, the kids LOVED the program at Irving.  By Spring, we decided to offer classes from the Northeast Family Center on nights and weekends open to anyone who wanted to sign up.  We changed our name to Academy of Rock.

By Summer, our kids were playing at Ribfest, the Nebraska State Fair and other concert venues all over the city.  As the months passed, our kids got better and better.  We had to create programs that evolved with their growing skills and needs.  We created Original Bands where kids could form into bands and write their own music.  We then added an adult and  K-5th grade program that is now offered at two elementary schools and on weekends at the Midwest Music Center.

In 2008, we hired longtime volunteer and instructor Bob Okamoto to our staff full time.

Academy of Rock has been at several locations around Lincoln.  Currently we’re at the Midwest Music Center, which offers a great atmosphere for our kids to practice and the resources the kids all need, Goodrich/Dawes, Norwood Park, and Brownell.  We’ve also been at CGS Music, Irving, Mickle, and Campus Life North.

Most recently, we’ve begun offering Blues classes at the Zoo Bar, Individual lessons, and have our own TV show taught in our Direct Input Class.  The Academy of Rock is a growing program with tons of opportunities for kids to be successful.  I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know so many kids and families through AOR, some that I will know the rest of my life.  Although we have a relatively short history, we’re just beginning to be the type of program we can.  We’re really excited to see what happens next!