Rockford’s Lincoln Middle School to Celebrate Cheap Trick

November 12th will be a day the students at Lincoln Middle School will remember forever. They will remember it as the day a rock star came to their school. 

I was surprised to hear that Rick Nielsen was less than the perfect student at Lincoln Middle School. He was actually expelled from the Lincoln Junior High School band and was banned forever from music programs in the district when he was a seventh grader in 1962! He made some comments that were deemed insubordinate by his Lincoln band director.

Many moons later, Rick is back in good standing with Lincoln High School. When "Rick's Picks: A Lifelong Affair With Guitars & Music" opened in 2012 at Burpee Museum, Principal Jason Grey and Interim Superintendent Robert Willis reinstated Rick "as a member in good standing of the Lincoln Middle School Band and all Rockford Public Schools from now to perpetuity."

Principal Jason Grey wants to make sure his students know their Lincoln Middle School, and major rock and roll, history.

On Thursday, November 12th, there will be a special Cheap Trick Day at Lincoln Middle School. Students will celebrate Rick Nielsen, Cheap Trick and students will be able to vote for Cheap Trick to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016. They also will be able to learn a lot about Cheap Trick and be visited by Rick Nielsen himself!

This will be a day that Lincoln Middle School will never forget.