As the prototypical shock-rocker, Alice Cooper became famous by giving kids nightmares. Now, he's looking to make their musical dreams come true. On Thursday (April 5), Cooper spoke before the Paradise Valley School Board in his hometown of Phoenix to announce the donation of $20,000 worth of instruments to Arrowhead Elementary School.

The gift is a grant from the Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation, an organization devoted to providing musical instruments to schools with under-funded music programs. Bob Ezrin, who produced Cooper's classic 1970s records, is the Vice President of the foundation.

By coincidence, the event took place around the corner from where Cooper is building a Teen Center for his Solid Rock Foundation, The center will offer free music, dance and art lessons to kids ages 13-19 as an alternative to a life of gangs and drugs. Cooper is holding a golf tournament on April 23-24 to raise funds for the new center.

"If you change one 13-year old kid's life, you change a neighborhood, not just his family," said Cooper. "Because everybody's pulling for him to pull himself out of that."

Cooper also addressed the children in attendance, some of whom brought their own instruements with them. "All of you kids learning right now, stay with it," he continued. "It's gonna be with you the rest of your life. Calculus probably won't be...But music and art are the two things that will be with you forever."

Perhaps realizing he may have just told kids to abandon their studies, Cooper quickly backtracked. "That doesn't mean you can't do math. You have to do math."

Watch Alice Cooper Speak about Music Education

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