FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

Music

Sia, Kim Gordon, Cat Power, Courtney Love, Yoko, and More Become Teachers via School of Doodle

It's a free online high school for girls with imagination taught by some of music's finest females…

I love that joke from Arrested Development where Maeby gets a “crocodile" instead of an actual grade in spelling and her parents are so proud. Sure, it’s making fun of alternative, high-priced, private education systems that some would see as void of actual merit, but what if there was a free school and offered you lessons in the creative arts by teachers whose work you'd heard of and admired? Well now, there is: welcome to School of Doodle.

Founded by Molly Logan and Elise Van Middelem, School of Doodle is changing the way girls learn. This website offers a free education led by iconic women, acclaimed in artistic disciplines such as art, music, and writing. The list of teachers on the website is pretty impressive with a roll call including Sia, Kim Gordon, Courtney Love, Pussy Riot, Cat Power, THEESatisfactionm and Yoko Ono. Not to mention other creatives such as Marina Abramovic, Sarah Silverman, designers Rodarte, and director Floria Sigismondi. Logan was inspired by a former teacher who really encouraged her thinking and told her she had value even though she was just a kid. (Watch the video above to find out more.)

When I was living in Vancouver, I would spend a week every August teaching music at Girls Rock Camp, a summer camp program for girls to learn an instrument, start a band and perform an original song at the end of the week. The whole objective was confidence building through music. We conducted workshops that ranged from 'zine printing to t-shirt screening and self-defense. I left each day at camp almost in tears because I was so proud of my girls, but more so, because I wish such a thing had been around when I was a teenager.

School of Doodle is a Kickstarter funded project and since they debuted a few months back they have raised over $100,000. Help this important, innovative project get off the ground and help young people learn in new ways. We use the internet for so much garbage, why not try to make good? Find out more and donate here.

Mish Way is the singer of White Lung and a frequent Noisey contributor. Follow her on Twitter.