By Jim Frye
To this day, when someone mentions the preamble to the Constitution, do you naturally begin to sing along to, “We the people….”? C’mon, admit it—you’re humming right now, aren’t you? For a generation of Saturday morning cartoon fans, Schoolhouse Rock on ABC was the place to learn all about grammar, science, history, and math. During the ’70s, Schoolhouse Rock produced a series of impossible-to-forget short educational interstitials that ran between the network’s animated programs on Saturday mornings. The combination of catchy tunes and whimsical animation proved to be a potent mix that is still remembered all these years later.
What are the lessons we learned from Schoolhouse Rock? So many, but here are five in particular that stand out.
What We Learned From “Conjunction Junction”
Who could ever have imagined that school kids would go around singing about conjunctions, phrases, and clauses? In the classic “Conjunction Junction,” we learn how conjunctions connect sentences together—but we also learn so much more. When the no-nonsense conductor connects the trains together he also teaches about properly joining two phrases using the following example: “Let’s go up to the mountains, or down to the seas. You should always say ‘thank you,’ or at least say ‘please.’” Not only did we learn proper punctuation, but we learned one of the most important life lessons of all: gratitude and kindness.
What We Learned from “I’m Just A Bill”
The inner workings of Congress seems like an unlikely topic for childhood education, but this episode made it feel easy. In the episode, we see a forlorn roll of paper sitting on the steps of Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. awaiting his fate—he’s a bill waiting to be voted on by Congress. Although the complications of legislation can confuse the smartest among us, “I’m Just A Bill” laid it out in simple—and sing-able—ways. “I’m just a bill. Yes I’m only a bill, and I got as far as Capitol Hill. Well, now I’m stuck in committee…” and so it goes. But it’s the young boy in the episode who drives home a strong life lesson when he says, “Gee, Bill, you certainly have a lot of patience and courage.” To which Bill answers, “Well, I got this far.” It takes a lot of perseverance, patience, and even courage to achieve the important things in life. What a great lesson!
What We Learned From “A Noun Is a Person, Place or Thing”
Okay, this should be pretty simple, right? According to “A Noun is a Person, Place or Thing,” “A noun’s a special kind of word. It’s any name you ever heard. I find it quite interesting, a noun’s a person, place or thing.” Simple, right? Well, you have to be paying attention to discover the deeper—and just as important—lesson to be learned. During the second verse, we find out that “Mrs. Jones is a lady on Hudson Street. She sent her dog to bark at my brother and me.” But instead of getting angry at the dog—or Mrs. Jones—the song tells us that, “We gave her dog a big fat bone.” In other words, we didn’t get even—we got nice! And then during the chorus, while we are singing, “Well, every person you can know—Mrs. Jones, a lady, or a brother,” we see the little brother handing a flower to Mrs. Jones, and a smile crosses her face. What did we learn? That Mrs. Jones is a noun—and that repaying hostility with kindness reaps kindness.
What We Learned From “My Hero Zero”
Multiplication and math are a lot more fun when you have fun songs to help you through, such as “Ready or Not Here I Come,” “Three Is A Magic Number,” and one of our favorites, “My Hero Zero.” On its surface, “My Hero Zero” seems pretty straightforward: “Place a zero after 1 and you’ve got yourself a 10. See how important that is?” And then a few lines later, “That’s why with only 10 digits, including zero, you can count as high as you could ever go… forever, towards infinity.” The snazzy little ditty taught kids how adding zeroes changed numbers. But the not-so-hidden subtext dealt with how anyone can be a hero, and also, heroes come in all shapes and sizes. The beginning lyrics go like this: “There are all kinds of heroes, you know. A man can get to be a hero for a famous battle he fought… Or by studying very hard and becoming a weightless astronaut… But a hero doesn’t have to be a grown-up person… A hero can be a very big dog who comes to your rescue, or a very little boy who’s smart enough to know what to do.” Never, ever underestimate the zeroes!
What We Learned From “Interplanet Janet”
Schoolhouse Rock even went galactic, teaching kids the ins and outs of science. The super-fun “Interplanet Janet” zoomed around the solar system, teaching about the sun and the (then) nine planets orbiting around it. About the sun, Janet taught us, “It’s a hot-spot, It’s a gas! Hydrogen and helium in a big, bright, glowing mass.” In the outer parts of the solar system we learn, “Mars is red and Jupiter’s big, and Saturn shows off its rings. Uranus is built on a funny tilt, and Neptune is its twin.” But what else did Janet teach us? “Interplanet Janet, she’s a galaxy girl, A solar system Ms. from a future world. She travels like a rocket with her comet team. And there’s never been a planet Janet hasn’t seen.” This one may be subtle—or not. But in the early 70s, Schoolhouse Rock was teaching young girls that they could go and do anything they set their minds to. Janet traveled as far as her curiosity would take her. A great lesson for girls—and boys—regardless what decade they live in. Go Janet!
Episodes of School House Rock, as well as the soundtrack, can be found on iTunes.
