Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Janis Joplin’s psychedelic Porsche, Michael Jackson’s sparkling glove, John Lennon’s handwritten lyrics and other priceless treasures line the walls in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. The museum makes music education a wild ride through the outrageous costumes and memorable songs that changed music forever.
The 150,000-square-foot museum features seven floors, four theaters and ever-changing exhibits. Groups can track the evolution of music through more than 50 exhibits by viewing the largest collection of rock music artifacts. Other exhibits like the re-created Sun Studios take visitors back in time to the creation of well-known hits.
Interactive kiosks let guests explore performers’ contributions using video and audio recordings. At the new Power of Rock Experience, groups will feel as if they are sitting in the front row of a rock hall induction night for giants like Smokey Robinson and Alice Cooper.
The museum’s temporary exhibits on the top two levels of the facility often gain international attention with subjects such as Elvis Presley, hip-hop and female rock stars.
“The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame gives students a wide range of opportunities to learn about music,” said Jantonio. “The Classical Music Rocks program pairs a visit to the museum with a performance by the Cleveland Orchestra.”
Because a Cleveland disc jockey originally coined the term “rock and roll,” officials chose Cleveland as the site of the museum honoring the genre. Architect I.M. Pei first imagined a tower with a glass pyramid protruding from it, thus the opening of the unusually shaped building in 1995.
Groups can also take advantage of the new, on-site All Access Cafe to combine a museum tour with a meal.
Cedar Point
Learning doesn’t usually involve screaming, but it’s part of the norm for a student group visit to Cedar Point. In Sandusky, about 60 miles east of Cleveland, the 364-acre amusement park on the Lake Erie peninsula features a world-record 72 rides, including 16 roller coasters.
Opened in 1870, the park started as a simple water toboggan ride that launched riders into Lake Erie. Today, the park is the most-visited seasonal amusement park in the country with an estimated 3.6 million visitors in 2016.
“They are the Roller Coaster Capital of the World because they have rides that you won’t find in any other park,” said Tiffany Frisch, group sales manager for Lake Erie Shores and Islands. “Cedar Point is always updating and ahead of the times, and that is evident in their coasters.”
Students can ride some of the world’s fastest, tallest and longest coasters, as well as leave smarter than they arrived with the addition of an educational program. Cedar Point offers a Physics, Science and Math Week each May when the park transforms into an enormous classroom with special presentations, demonstrations and hands-on exhibits. The program helps students apply principles they learned in school to the challenges faced when running an amusement park.
Cedar Point also organizes Amusement Park 101 for students for five days in late May. Presentations with information on park operations occur daily before teachers set the students loose in the park.
No matter the time of year, Dinosaurs Alive combines handcrafted animatronics with educational content. The roaring exhibit engages all ages in a safer and more realistic version of Jurassic Park for both laughs and learning.
