Steven Van Zandt joins Basie Center Walk of Fame before TeachRock gala (SEE/READ SPEECH HERE)

MATTHEW CARASELLA

Steven Van Zandt presents Kathy Durham with the Trailblazer Award at TeachRock’s Hall of Fame ceremony at The Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank, Oct. 17.

Steven Van Zandt was inducted into the Walk of Fame at The Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank on Oct. 17, and used his speech to praise teachers (“they are on the front line of our war against ignorance”) and speak about the “big ninth inning” he has planned for his own career, which will include an “almost finished” novel.

You can read the complete of the speech and/or watch it, below.

The Walk of Fame induction ceremony took place before a Basie Center gala for Van Zandt’s educational TeachRock organization, at which educators were honored with induction into a Teachers Hall of Fame. Pete Davidson hosted and Kool & the Gang performed a full set.

Performing a short set, earlier in the evening, was The E Street Band’s E Street Choir (singers Curtis King, Michelle Moore, Ada Dyer and Lisa Lowell) backed by keyboardist Charles Giordano and percussionist Anthony Almonte; their set included the R&B classics “Love Train” (watch below) and “We Are Family.” Also, singers from the Sing for Hope program at Amani Public Charter School in Mount Vernon, New York, performed Van Zandt’s “Out of the Darkness.”

Jon Bon Jovi inducted Van Zandt into the Walk of Fame and appeared at the gala as well, as did Bruce Springsteen (watch below), who honored Tom Morello’s late mother Mary, a longtime teacher and activist. Morello accepted in her honor.

MATTHEW CARASELLA

Steven Van Zandt at The Count Basie Center for the Arts, Oct. 17.

Here is Van Zandt’s Walk of Fame speech:

Growing up in New Monmouth, just a couple of towns away … The Basie was the Carlton Theater back then. And it was the only movie theater in Middletown Township. It’s where I saw “A Hard Day’s Night” and “Help!” and “Bye Bye Birdie” and the original “Nutty Professor.” You know, the important classics that shape your life.

I guess one way to find out you’re getting old is when they start putting your name on sidewalks. But I’m planning on a big ninth inning. I’ve got, like, six scripts, you know, for various TV shows, and a couple of films. A little bit of luck, I might be doing one of those soon. I’ve got a novel almost finished. I’ve got a soundtrack written. Another one started. And if I find a patron of the arts, the Disciples of Soul will ride again.

But mostly, really, right now, I’m focused on expanding my TeachRock curriculum. Tonight will be the inauguration of the TeachRock Teachers Hall of Fame. I’m very excited about that. Everybody else has a Hall of Fame, and they should have one, too.

Over the last 20 years, nearly half of the American school districts have cut the arts to focus on tested subjects like reading and math. And if they asked me, I would have told them, you know, “You want kids to do better at reading and math? Give them more of the arts.” But no one asked. So I decided to give it a shot myself.

Now, what the hell do I know about education, right? They kicked me out of high school for having long hair. But I know one thing. The only teacher and the only class that I remember is Mrs. Wojciechowski’s music class. It was her, and a beatnik librarian, whose name I wish I remembered, who said, “If you like Bob Dylan, you should try this guy,” and she handed me Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl.” And that’s the sum total of everything I learned in high school.

So, as far as I’m concerned, teachers are equally important to our police, our firemen, our military. They are on the front line of our war against ignorance every single day. With the right curriculum and the right teachers, that war is winnable. And teachers are true American heroes. And tonight, they will be acknowledged and celebrated. So, thank you for this … and I will use every effort to make you proud.

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