In my second year at Eaglecrest HS I was asked if I had any interest in teaching a History of Rock and Roll class. When I was told they did not have a pre-existing curriculum I got incredibly excited! The opportunity to design a class where students are able to make real connections with the music they listen to every day filled me with ambition. I started by creating the final: a research-focused project that could be created either as a website, physical demo, or presentation that start with a student's favorite artist and traced them back as far as possible in American Music History. Ultimately, every student would find that their chosen artist had ties with the blues and the African-American diaspora. The class combined rigorous study of the cultural and historical contexts in which artists created music in the United States with a musicological study of genre. The primary goals of the class were to have students 1) understand the historical origins and traditions of their favorite artists, 2) be able to distinguish between genres of music by ear, 3) understand the contributions and creativity of African-American art and it's impact on American culture, and 4) understand the ways that culture and history impact the evolution of artforms across human civilization.