Imagine how amazing high school would have been if grunge heroine Courtney Love was your teacher, or how about having Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon as your music tutor?
Well the kids of today are being afforded that opportunity by a free online high school for girls called ‘School of Doodle’, which is looking to launch through the help of a crowdfunding campaign.
Described as a “peer-to-peer, self-directed learning lab dedicated to activating girls’ imaginations through entertainment, education and community,” the School of Doodle will offer a series of interactive videos, lectures, forums, and web workshops to its digital students – with music playing a big part in its curriculum.
Along with Courtney Love and Kim Gordon, other high-profile musicians that have been enlisted as prospective ‘teachers’ are Yoko Ono, Chan Marshall aka Cat Power, Russian punks Pussy Riot, J.D Samson of Le Tigre/MEN, and Australia’s own Sia, as the Kickstarter campaign page for School of Doodle reveals.
Further strengthening the rock ‘n roll connection is the campaign trailer, which quotes from famous riot grrrl pioneers Bikini Girl (“girls constitute a revolutionary soul force that can, and will, change the world for real”) and is soundtracked by the Kathleen Hanna-fronted Le Tigre (and their track ‘Hot Topic’).
School of Doodle is seeking to raise US$ 75,000 by the 24th August and has already raised over US$ 40k in less than a week, thanks in part by offering pledgers a book of original ‘doodles’ drawn by the aforementioned musicians along with other prominent cultural artists and thinkers, like comedian Sarah Silverman and visual artist Jenny Holzer.
While it’s called a school, co-founder Molly Logan tells MTV that the concept is more of an “endless obstacle course for the imagination,” with its teenage participants having access to a variety of ‘lessons’ on a broad range of topics (eg. ‘how to write a three chord song with Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth’) earning them a virtual currency (called ‘Doodle Dollars’) which can be used to purchase creative tools, access to “field trips”, and other activities.
“The curriculum will be made up of anything that inspires imagination,” Logan tells MTV. “We are very specific in using the word ‘imagination’ and not ‘creativity.’ We find that people interpret creativity as tied to art or learned skills while they all agree that imagination is something everyone has and takes many forms … so yes, lessons will not be restricted to art and the development of the curriculum will be driven by our Doodle community and our teen board of directors.”
Should the School of Doodle reach its goal of $75,000, it will launch early 2015. To learn more and/or donate, head to the Kickstarter campaign page.
