There is a common understanding that a high school student drops out of high school about every 26 seconds.  Many groups, schools, are working to chip away at this tragic statistic and many are using approaches aimed at leveraging a student’s specific talent and interests.

For Tony Simmons, my guest today, music is their leverage. Tony is the executive director of the High School for Recording Arts in Minnesota. HSRA takes students from high poverty areas of the city and gives them access to a full education with music as the driving force behind them.

Our talk today focuses on the workings of the school, the vision behind it and their plans to grow HSRA to other cities.