Imagine a school in which guitar chords buzz throughout the hallways. Picture a classroom where cymbals crash off the walls and bass notes thud through the floors. Such a place is not only the stuff of Jack Black movies; it exists in Lincoln.

Academy of Rock is an after-school program that teaches rock ‘n’ roll ins-and-outs to aspiring young musicians. From fundamentals and technique to learning and writing music to live performance, the Northeast Family Center program aims to empower students to become leaders and great team members and to independently and collaboratively develop their creative minds.

“It just opens up a lot of doors for kids they honestly might not ever have if they weren’t doing music,” says Academy of Rock instructor John Fucinaro. “Just having a creative outlet is a hugely important thing.”

Recently, we sat down with Fucinaro, Academy of Rock Director Aaron Halsted and members of AoR-spawned band Histrionic to get a closer look inside the program, its musical and life lessons and what it means to its students.

[The Northeast Family Center’s Academy of Rock is a non-profit music program in Lincoln for students in Kindergarten – 12th grades. For more information, visit its website here.]