Rapper hopes moe skills =moe learning

When the sixth grade class at Holy Trinity Community School, in Jamaica, was asked to name their favorite rapper, every single hand flew up as if they were shot from a cannon.
But when these same students were asked to name their favorite historical figure or mathematician, they sat motionless. Only a few hands shyly crept skyward.
Attitude Media, a public relations firm and 50/50 “The Movement” Entertainment, a Brooklyn-based record label, have collaborated to install Moe Skills, a program initiative to enhance the learning environment in math, history, science, and literature classes by bringing to schools at no cost 50/50’s top rap artist, Maurice Sherrod (known as Moe Chips in the rap world).
The basics of the program are: A teacher gives his or her students a standard curriculum writing assignment a week before Sherrod’s arrival. When he visits the school, Sherrod interacts with the students by reading their assignments. He then selects two of them to change into simplified rap songs which explain and teach the lesson.
“My class has been having a difficult time remembering the facts, mostly due to not wanting to read or study the material,” said Sharon Garrett, in her 23rd year teaching at Holy Trinity. “However, they are constantly singing rap songs word for word. I say to them ‘why can’t you learn your history or math facts as quickly as you do these songs?’ Their response is ‘history has too much reading’ and ‘I can’t remember all the rules or steps in math.’… I like this idea a lot. They’re excited about it.”
“We can continue to be blind to the fact that most students want to be like their favorite rapper, or we can face the issue head-on and use it as a tool to promote education,” said 50/50 President Tyrone Sherrod, the rapper’s uncle, who is also a principal at Holy Trinity.
“It’s another way of learning instead of just sitting in the classroom,” Diamond Clough, 11, of Jamaica said.
“I like being able to interact in this way,” said Ryan Sanders, 11, of Jamaica. “Because some kids have a hard time memorizing things, it would make it easier and they wouldn’t struggle as much.”
In addition to rapping about one of their current school topics, Sherrod answered questions and signed autographs. “Anything you do, you need to have an education,” he said. “You can be creative. I wrote poetry, that was still a form of school work. I have an extensive vocabulary that allows me to paint pictures with my music. I am excited about bringing this movement to the classroom and bridging the gap between education and rap music.”