The Bus is a non-profit organization dedicated to educating young people about the production and creation of music, according to Daniel Heffernan, an on-board engineer.
“It’s kind of just to get students … interested in the whole process and [to] learn about the technology that we use to produce any sort of media – from recording music to producing videos to doing live streaming videos,” Heffernan said.
The Bus stopped at Sequoia High School from Sept. 7 to Sept. 10 to help selected students produce an original song and music video with guidance from the Bus staff and the Black Eyed Peas’ producer, lead songwriter and lead guitar player.
“We taught them the whole process of creating a song and provided the technology used to do it,” Heffernan said.
Sequoia High School senior Joselyn Juarez who was chosen by her choir teacher to participate in the program enjoyed her experience with the Bus.
“It [the Bus] encouraged me in a lot of ways,” Juarez said. “It also helped with deciding what I want to study because I’m graduating this year.”
The music video, titled “We are the Future (Now is the Time),” will be released tomorrow at Sequoia High School during the U.S. Department of Education’s third annual back-to-school bus tour kickoff event. It will also be uploaded on The John Lennon Bus Youtube account.
The Bus has previously teamed up with the U.S. Department of Education. Later today, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan will visit the bus to record a speech that will be incorporated into the song, Heffernan said.
“Education is changing nowadays,” Heffernan said. “There’s a lot more technology … The school systems have to change and there has to be more technology.”
The Bus ties together aspects of music and education, according to producer and engineer Kyle Baudour.
“It’s something that ties together all of these different subject matters,” Baudour said. “The U.S. Department of Education, especially this one, really seems forward-thinking in … how to not only enhance education, but make it so that if you’re actually engaged in your education and … enjoying learning, you’re going to be able to learn so much better.”
The Bus will leave Stanford tonight and continue its route back to Sequoia High School on Sept. 12 and to the Apple campus on Sept. 13.
