Minneapolis students learn ABCs of Taylor Swift

I’m a really, really big Swiftie. Yeah. It’s scary. She’s really positive, and she’s just really cool, and her music is awesome,” said sixth grader Wren Hopes.

Every Wednesday, the Anderson After School Beacons meet for a class called Taylor’s Version, a nod to the superstar’s habit of re-recording her old albums to regain ownership of her music. There, the 6th through 8th graders learn both academic and life lessons by studying Swift’s songs and career.

“I think it’s really important to try to meet students with where they’re at. So I really think that Taylor is a vehicle for us to connect to students and then also connect to what we’re learning at school” said Seth Wester.

In this class, students are celebrating Women’s History Month by analyzing one of Swift’s music videos for themes of feminism and double standards.

The Swifties have also learned about biographies by making a visual timeline of all the singer’s albums and the creative arts by making friendship bracelets, which became popular for fans to exchange during Swift’s recent Eras tour.

“So we’re always trying to tie in, some kind of either historical, social, emotional learning. We might in the future actually do a little math lesson about how much money Taylor has earned and business,” said Wester.

The students see Swift as a role model who uses her art to express herself and her success bringing people together is a subject they know all too well.

“I didn’t know there were this many Swifties at this school,” said Hopes.

This is one of three Swift-inspired classes at MPS.

A journaling class looking at Swift’s lyrics started at Lake Harriet Upper School on Tuesday and a fan club class will be offered at Kenwood Elementary this summer.