Jon Bon Jovi collaborates with charming little kindergartners for 'Do What You Can' in virtual class session
The rate of creativity and ideas under the quarantine rules we face during the coronavirus pandemic seems to be growing rapidly and this one is totally charming. A kindergarten teacher in Florida got rock 'n' roll icon Jon Bon Jovi to show up for a writing lesson about life in quarantine in a virtual classroom session.
Bon Jovi released an incomplete version of 'Do What You Can' last month which is a ballad about the country's battle to contain the virus and called out to fans to submit lyrics to help complete it, according to The Palm Beach Post.
The kindergarten teacher, named Michael Bonick, who is a life-long devoted Bon Jovi fan and works at Marsh Pointe Elementary School in Palm Beach Gardens, saw the Grammy-winning singer's invitation and found contact information online for a member of Bon Jovi's staff.
Until now, Bon Jovi has received thousands of proposals online, some of which he has actually added into performances of the song that he broadcasts online from his home in New Jersey.
Bonick decided to turn the invitation into a homework assignment last week which encouraged kids to write about where they are and who they are with.
He said, although the young children used the recurring theme of being stuck at home, their writing was good because he wanted them to document their lives in such an extraordinary time. "Once we get out of this, because we will get out of this, it's history," he said.
After the proposed lyrics were sent, a member of Bon Jovi's staff replied that the '80s rock star wanted to meet the young writers, and at 10 am on April 13, Bon Jovi made an appearance on their laptop screens.
He said, "Mr B got you guys writing and I was very excited to hear that," and added, "because if you get to put your feelings down on paper sometimes they'll turn into songs, sometimes they'll turn into stories and you never know where it might lead you."
The 20 kindergartners, along with their parents, all watched Bon Jovi who turned to his acoustic guitar while he sang out three of the student's writing prompts about life in quarantine, each one with themes of isolation and idleness.
After he sang eight lines by a boy named AJ which end with "My parents try their best. But I can tell that they're stressed," Bon Jovi congratulated him and said, "You're a rock 'n' roll star. We wrote this one together, me and you buddy."
Bonick said after the meeting that "they were blown away. They loved every minute of it."