Music... it is a part of every human culture and society. We are entertained by it, we are moved by it. KCCK uses jazz music, America's only indigenous musical art form, to enrich people's lives through radio, other technology and outreach programs.

School House Jazz is a music enrichment program created by KCCK-FM to tap into the energy and curiosity of young people and help them begin to appreciate jazz as fun music to listen to and an important part of our American heritage.

A key component of KCCK's mission is to advance the appreciation of jazz as art that is both enriching and fun. It is for this reason that KCCK has developed Schoolhouse Jazz, a way to bring jazz directly into the classroom, providing a unique educational program to students of all ages and developmental levels, at little or no cost to the recipients.

This project introduces elementary and middle school students to jazz music and how it has influenced American culture. Through live performance, narration and interaction with local musicians, this project demonstrates how jazz developed through social, economic and political changes in our country's history. The immediate and long-term result is a new understanding and appreciation of jazz, and preservation of this art by creating an audience for its future. The project also gives students a better understanding of the wide variety of music available to them as they begin to make choices about style.

School House Jazz is designed to be a flexible enrichment program that can easily be added to any existing curriculum. Each teacher who decides to use the resources of School House Jazz can decide how much time they have to spend and what subjects should be incorporated into the assembly, workshop or residency. Please contact KCCK at (319)398-5446 to schedule workshops at your school.