Pharrell Williams is a young musician who, except for band classes, got Cs, Ds, and a few Es in his Virginia Beach high school but, at the urging of his grandmother, went to a summer band camp to learn how to play the drums, CBS Sunday Morning reports. From there, he proceeded to win a Grammy and lead a very successful life doing what he loves to do: making music.
“You’ve said that you were one of those kids who just didn’t fit into the box,” CBS’s Anthony Mason asked him.
“No, I just never even seen the box,” Pharrell replied. “It’s like, what do you mean? What wall? What ceiling? What are you talking about? Hence the phrase ‘Room without a roof,’ you know? Limitless.”
The interview was originally aired on April 13, but posted online only a few days ago. His music video for “Happy” had already amassed nearly 400 million views on YouTube, but in the interview, he comes across, as I’m sure he is, grounded, humble, and grateful to his music teachers: Mrs Warren, Mr Warren, Mr Edwards, and Mr Sharps.
Diane Ravitch, foremost education historian, writes:
How many millions of similar stories are out there about young people whose lives were changed by a teacher? And yet there is so much vitriol out there in the blogosphere and the media that it is necessary to remind the public of the importance of teachers and to remind them that test scores are not everything. Pharrell would be considered a failure today, in our current data-driven climate, where federal law requires that all students must get higher scores every year. If they don’t, it is their teachers’ fault. The teachers that Pharrell remembers so gratefully would be fired because he got bad grades and probably low test scores. His story illustrates how our deviation of education has been narrowed and corrupted by federal law and policies like Race to the Top. Pharrell today would be left behind and treated as a loser.
Additional resources
- pharrellwilliams.com
- “Girl” by Pharrell Williams (Columbia); Available at Amazon and iTunes
- 24 Hours of “Happy”
- Follow Pharrell Williams on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube
- Fine and Dandy, New York
