Here at GratefulEd blog, we’re big consumers of stories about the latest happenings in education policy. And our love of live music means we also tend to stay on top of music news. Say those two topics collide and then there’s a little bit of ‘teaching kids about entrepreneurship’ sprinkled in – well, that definitely gets our attention.
That’s why this story about Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine opening a new magnet high school in Los Angeles caught our eye. The two barrier-breaking icons (see “The Defiant Ones”) who brought us some of the most incredible music while launching careers and businesses understand how the long pathways to success in any field can begin when a student is still in school.
This is for kids who want to go out and start their own company or go work at a place… like Marvel, or Apple or companies like that.
Working successfully in these areas means breaking down silos between different jobs and skills — and disrupting familiar patterns with creativity and purpose.
This is nowhere near a music school,” [Iovine] said.
LA Times
This isn’t the duo’s first foray into the education space. In 2013 they founded the USC Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy, a unique model that integrates arts and design, engineering and computer science, business and venture management, and communication.
Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine’s groundbreaking project – USC Iovine and Young Academy.
The high school broadens the vision; it will provide new opportunities that tap into students’ passions and engage them in ways that they may not have found in a traditional high school program. It’s a great example of why we need more education options, the ability to start new schools, and the freedom to innovate.
Kuddos to L.A. schools Supt. Austin Beutner, who said the district has an obligation to find new, better, and more engaging programs. The Dr. Dre-Iovine effort, he said, could create “the coolest high school in America.”
Here’s to a bright future of music innovators, entrepreneurs, and dreamers.
