“RAP INTO HISTORY” CHALLENGE
Taking a Page from the Broadway Smash Hamilton: An American Musical, COBBLESTONE™ Invites Kids of All Ages to Submit an Original Rap about Their Favorite Person in U.S. History in This Challenge Judged by Showbiz Luminaries!
In Conjunction with the Challenge, COBBLESTONE™ Will Offer a 35% Discount on an Annual Subscription – PLUS a FREE Alexander Hamilton Issue!
Mclean, VA (October 04, 2016) – Thanks to a musical biography with irresistible hip hop music and snappy lyrics, Alexander Hamilton is a Broadway star — two centuries after his death. The hottest musical in the country has spawned a best-selling cast soundtrack, a national tour and even #Hamilkids, a passionate group of young fans who’ve overtaken social media. This October, COBBLESTONE™, the award-winning magazine for aspiring historians, focuses on the “ten dollar Founding Father.” To celebrate this exciting new issue, the editors are wondering which other U.S. historical leaders might inspire future Broadway songwriters. So, COBBLESTONE™ is proud to launch the “Rap Into History” Challenge!
Aimed at kids ages 9-14, the COBBLESTONE™ “Rap Into History” Challenge invites junior historians and music lovers alike to drop some cool rhymes about a person in U.S history who intrigues, excites, or challenges them. The entrants’ original songs will be judged by a panel of accomplished Broadway producers including six-time Tony® Award winner Frederick Zollo (Once), two-time Tony® Award winner Jim Kierstead (Waitress, Kinky Boots), founder of Broadway for All, Osh Ghanimah, filmmaker Leah Natasha Thomas, producer of 3 ½ Minutes, which was shortlisted for the 2015 Academy Awards and COBBLESTONE™ editor Meg Cholian. The winning raps will be featured online on the “Rap Into History” mini-site, as well as in the pages of COBBLESTONE™ magazine, perhaps discovering the next Lin Manuel Miranda. Cobblestone readers may now upload their audio or video entries on the “Rap Into History” mini-site at http://www.rapintohistory.com/. The challenge closes on October 25, and winners will be announced on November 18.
Along with the challenge entry form, the “Rap Into History” mini-site includes bonus Hamilton content: “Hamilton On Stage” by Kathiann M. Kowalski which features an interview with Miguel Cervantes, who has been part of the Broadway cast and is now starring as Hamilton in the Chicago production; and, “COBBLESTONE™ Goes to Broadway” in which Kathiann recounts her exciting and inspiring experiences seeing the show in person.
The October issue of COBBLESTONE™ is devoted to Hamilton, a Revolutionary War veteran who argued passionately for the adoption of the U.S. Constitution and helped shape the country’s financial system as its first secretary of the Treasury. Inside its pages, readers will learn of Hamilton’s early years in the article “Young Ambition”, his wartime heroics in “Military Glory” and, in the most tragic chapter of his life, young historians will learn of Hamilton’s demise in “An Infamous Duel”.
In conjunction with the “Rap Into History” Challenge, COBBLESTONE™ will also be offering a limited-time one-year subscription rate of $21.95 (normally $33.95) — a 35% discount off the annual subscriptions and a 50% discount off newsstand rates! Aside from the special rate, which covers 9 ad-free issues per year, new subscribers will also receive the Alexander Hamilton issue for free! Interested consumers are invited to subscribe here.
About Cobblestone Magazine
For more than 35 years, COBBLESTONE™ magazine has been transforming history from a dry classroom exercise into a living, breathing guide to how Americans live, work, play, and eat from the 1600s to today. Filled with fascinating true stories from all decades of our country’s history, augmented with dramatic photographs, and beautiful illustrations, COBBLESTONE™ introduces young readers to important American events and places, from colonial Williamsburg to famous battles of the Civil War to the Gold Rush to the Korean War. COBBLESTONE™, winner of a prestigious Parents’ Choice Gold Award in 2016, takes kids on a journey through history, designed to excite their imaginations and bring the past to life!
About Cricket Media
Cricket Media is an education media company that provides award-winning content on a safe and secure learning network for children, families and teachers across the world. Cricket Media’s 11 popular media brands for toddlers to teens include Babybug®, Ladybug®, Cricket™ and Cobblestone™. The Company’s innovative web-based K12 tools for school and home include the ePals community and virtual classroom for global collaboration as well as In2Books®, aneMentoring program that builds reading, writing and critical thinking skills. Cricket Media serves millions of teachers, students and parents in over 200 countries and territories through its platform and NeuPals, its joint venture with China’s leading IT services company Neusoft. Cricket Media also licenses its content and platform to top publishing and educational companies worldwide. For more information, please visit http://cmcorp.wpengine.com.
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