Matthew Greenbaum

Students in a class run by Matthew Greenbaum, who spends the school year as an English teacher and dean at Spring Valley High School, were recently assigned to write stories about distrust.One student chose to write about a stolen cell phone.Another told a tale of gang warfare.

"If they can reflect upon things that are negative, they can hopefully understand things that are positive and vice versa," Greenbaum said.

The math period is dedicated mainly to real-world applications of mathematics.
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Teacher Matt Greenbaum poses a moral dilemma for students to discuss in his creative writing class in the Shaping Tomorrow's Leadership Academy.

The Spring Valley class is led by English teacher and dean Matthew Greenbaum.During the first half of the semester, students focused on interpreting and discussing lyrics by artists ranging from Bruce Springsteen to Grandmaster Flash.

They compared and contrasted various songs and examined the artists' use of literary devices such as metaphors and similes.The class also took several field trips to radio stations in New York City and to the Institute of Audio Research, which prepares students for careers in music production and audio engineering.

"After students have developed an understanding of music that has already made it into the music industry, they incorporate those ideas into their own writing," Greenbaum said.

It's not a class for wallflowers.
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Greenbaum will join his students for two performances - "Toy Soldiers," a rap song performed with four students based on an Eminem song of the same name, and "Ready, Aim, Speak," a slam poem performed with Masbad.

Masbad, who uses the stage name Mas Malo, said that working with his teacher felt natural.

"We didn't even write our verses together, but they mesh well," Masbad said.

Greenbaum himself is a prolific slam poet - he goes by the alias "Professor Greentree" - and also once worked on producing a friend's music.

"I have such a passion for music that it's great that I can now allow students to experience that passion as well," he said.

Spring Valley High isn't the only East Ramapo school bringing lyrics into the classroom.Greenbaum said Ramapo High offered a lyrics-writing class last semester, the same time Spring Valley began offering its class.

A Spring Valley showcase held last semester raised nearly $1,500 for recording studio equipment.

Greenbaum said that if the high school is able to open its own studio, it could be used by students in the Rapping Poetic class as well as members of a Rapping Poetic club planned for the fall.

Experience in the studio could help students develop technical skills needed to work in the music industry, he said.