Special to the Enquirer 

Ready to rock? 

Danville High School is one of 17 schools across the Southeast participating in Reach and Teach, a nonprofit educational program that gives students the opportunity to plan, promote and execute a real rock concert on their school campus.  

The Velcro Pygmies, an 80s rock cover band from Louisville, Kentucky, will be performing for the student-planned and promoted concert March 2 at 12:30 p.m. in the gymnasium. 

Since the beginning of Reach and Teach, more than 8,000 students have participated in the program. Concert tour curriculum has been successfully implemented at 32 schools since 2017. 

This real-world experience allows students to gain knowledge in budgeting, logistics, marketing and more, while also developing essential life skills, such as communication, problem solving and teamwork. 

Danville students have been working through the program over the past few months with the guidance of their teacher, Justin Helms. They have set goals, analyzed the target market, maintained an event budget, developed and obtained sponsorship packages and so much more. 

Helms said seniors and freshman make up the majority of the Reach and Teach program this year.  

“The program consists of nine lessons and we have been completely through five so far,” he said. “I think they have learned a lot about the advertising they see for things in life and how hard it is to organize.”