Rock star Aaron Lewis of Staind, an alternative rock band, doesn’t look like the kind of person who worries about local school closures – but, as you always tell your kids, you shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover. Lewis is taking on a major problem that’s hitting a lot of communities, including his own in rural New England – school closures.
He, and his newly formed It Takes a Community Foundation, are putting on a benefit concert that will help revitalize the rural communities through out the New England area, starting with raising funds to support the Community Education Center in Worthington, Massachusetts, which will help open the school and provide a smooth transition from a district-run facility to a community school.
In a statement, Lewis said, “My family has been directly affected by school closures in our rural area due to state budget cuts. We have seen firsthand the necessity for smaller communities to have a voice and to determine their own local needs and priorities. Our foundation strives to do just that-to build a collective of local community members and empower them to take charge of their own community’s future.”
“The school district in our town decided to close three of five elementary schools,” Lewis told Noisecreep. “My daughter’s school was on the chopping block, so after fighting with the school district for a year and giving them options to stay open, they closed. That wasn’t acceptable to me. I do not want to put my 5-year-old and 8-year-old on a school bus for an hour in each direction, at 6:15 [AM], when the school day starts at 8 [AM].
“So I am re-opening them out of my own pocket. The charity’s mission statement is to help any project within a small rural community in the New England area right now. Hopefully it will expand outside of the New England area.” Lewis is very dedicated to the project, and he is humble, too, saying, “This is the least I can do.”
