April 30th and May 3rd: Sweet Cherie is Back at Two Rivers

“This was one of the highlights of our school year - thank you!”
— Amanda Silverstein, Two Rivers teacher

Sweet Cherie rocked 5th-grade classes at both Two Rivers campuses again this spring! Students were enamored with Sweet Cherie and blown away by her workshop facilitation. Immersing them in a makeshift go-go in their classrooms, Sweet Cherie broke down the origins and fundamentals of go-go music, her time playing with the godfather of go-go, Chuck Brown, and the elements of a go-go. Students beamed when Sweet Cherie called their name and gave them eight counts to “do their dance,” like a talker does at a go-go.  

Silverstein shared:

The kids had so much fun and were excited for someone important to visit them and teach them things! They definitely appreciated having someone to look up to who is from D.C. I am going to encourage more students to go to formal and informal music events, especially go-go! Many students were excited and commented things like "I have seen her before!" or "I love that band!" or "I can't believe she is here!" One of them even said, "This is the best day of my life."

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See all photos from these visits in 2024. Read about Sweet Cherie’s visits at Two Rivers in March 2023.

March 22: Cherie and Juju at Alexandria Country Day School

During workshops she leads, co-founding Teach the Beat artist Sweet Cherie shares that the name “go-go” comes from the song “Going to a Go-Go” by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles. The beauty of Teach the Beat, especially when Cherie and other co-founding Teach the Beat artist Juju House link up, is that the go-go is brought to YOU! 

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Upon entering the performing arts space at Alexandria Country Day School, all of the Bobcats — the school’s mascot — experienced a workshop they’ll never forget! Starting with an invitation to dance to “Go-Go Swing” and “Chuck Baby,” Cherie and House wanted the kindergartners through 5th grade students to feel the go-go rhythms before they explained the different types of beats and the other elements of go-go music. They also covered the names and songs of iconic bands, modeled the call and response feature of a go-go, and showed them the Lock It dance. 

Mid-sentence, one student marched up to Cherie and declared, 

I LOVE go-go!

So do we, kid. So do we.

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February 23: Sweet Cherie and Juju House at Simon ES

The Teach the Beat team jammed with Simon Elementary School again this year but touched a much bigger audience this go around! During a classroom visit at the school — around this time last year — Liz Bolston and her class were enthralled by the musical teachings and stylings of Sweet Cherie. They shared in the year since, they STILL use call and response and other pieces they learned with Sweet Cherie that day. In her request for a visit this year, Bolston shared:

The students still talk about our experience last school year. We still do call and response: “Wh- wh- wh- where you from?" and listen to go go during transitions. I would love to have all the students at Simon ES be able to experience go-go and Sweet Cherie.

Request granted!

Bolston’s wish was for more Simon students to experience a visit. Luckily, a schoolwide program celebrating local celebrities — including Markus Batchelor and VP of WMATA Jewel Bell – was a perfect opportunity for Teach the Beat’s co-founding teaching artists to co-facilitate an assembly-style visit for all of the school. Sweet Cherie and Juju brought down the house, introducing the fundamentals of go-go, including call and response, the names of iconic go-go groups, the Lock It dance, and so much more!

After the visit, they shared:

Teach the Beat is amazing! Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to come to Simon and workshop with our students! It was wonderful having you there. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

See all photos from this visit.

Read about Simon ES’s Teach the Beat visit in 2023.

March 21: Sweet Cherie and Juju House at Howard University Middle School of Mathematics and Science

The auditorium of Howard University Middle School of Mathematics and Science was electric with the go-go musical stylings of Sweet Cherie and Juju House. This was the school’s first Teach the Beat visit. DCAESJ secondary working group member Destini Collins is a middle school music teacher at the school, and upon learning about Teach the Beat, she fervently pursued bringing the program to the school. This much anticipated assembly style visit surpassed her and the middle school students’ expectations!

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Cherie and House introduced the fundamentals of go-go history and composition, made clear the elements of a go-go, and shared about their experiences in founding and carrying go-go generations forward. They shared about the origins of the pocket beat and, much to HU Middle’s elation, they learned about the go-go symphony from JuJu.

Ms. Collins raved:

This visit truly challenged me to make teaching and learning joyful and artful... I cannot begin to express the ways in which I am inspired. There were students who are typically shy or withdrawn who were laughing, smiling, playing, singing, and dancing. There were students playing the instruments who would not typically volunteer themselves to participate in such a high-stakes event, but you made it feel so welcoming and low-stakes for them because it was like a PARTY. I cannot begin to express how incredible this experience was for the students. It was an incredibly rare, sacred, and artful opportunity for them to make connections beyond our classroom, into the community, into the world. Thank you for how incredibly interactive, engaging, fun, joyful, and intentional this experience was for the students AND everyone in attendance. Thank you so much for sharing your legacy and art with us at HU Middle. I cannot wait to collaborate with Teach the Beat in the future.

Check out all of the photos from the visit.

January 10: Sweet Cherie at the Sheridan School

A large swath of the Sheridan School learned from co-founding Teach the Beat teaching artist “Sweet” Cherie during their series with her! To help engagingly ease students back into their school routine following the winter break, we conducted a “minimester” course that allowed them to explore their interests with experiential learning through less structured school days. The school hosted three distinct visits that day, and Cherie tailored these visits to bring powerful and engaging workshops for many students from kindergarten through eighth grade.

• The school’s youngest students gathered in the gymnasium for an assembly-style introduction to the elements and historical origins of go-go. Sweet Cherie seamlessly oscillated between up-on-your-feet interactive elements in this assembly, to having the undivided attentive listening of dozens of K - third grade students.

• The fourth grade classes tickled Sweet Cherie’s keys. Unbeknownst to their teachers, most of these classes of students are talented piano players and able to play complex pieces without their sheet music.

• Middle school music students demonstrated their own musical skills, too, and played a song they wrote with the go-go bands they created.

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Ms. Hutt-Sierra, one of the middle school music teachers, beamed:

It was such a fun time! I loved how much information Cherie was able to share with the students while keeping them fully engaged with all of the movement and interactive elements. Just watching Cherie's talent on the keyboard was also amazing! A quote that sticks came from our quietest kid, who said, "I can't wait to tell my mom about this tonight."