Rockwood Graduate Pursues Passions in Music Education, Performance

As a student at Rockwood South Middle and Rockwood Summit High, Ty Waldrop pursued as many opportunities as he could to cultivate his love of music.

Now, the 2024 Rockwood Summit graduate is following a similar script to share his passion with the wider world, both as a peformer in four local bands and as a music education major at Webster University and part of the Welcome Home Rockwood program.

Welcome Home Rockwood is a mentorship program for Rockwood alumni and current students who want to become teachers in the district. The program maintains a connection with students throughout their pursuit of an education degree, then offers them a guaranteed screening interview with Rockwood Human Resources at the end of the process. Current Rockwood teachers hold monthly meetings with Welcome Home mentees, and students in the program are guaranteed student teaching placement in the district.

Waldrop's mentor will be Rachel Johnson, music and gifted education teacher at the Rockwood Center for Creative Learning. His mother, Bonnie, has more than 30 years of experience in the education field with the past eight in Rockwood as a special education teacher at Ridge Meadows and Geggie elementary schools and an English language arts, social-emotional learning and Creative Connections teacher at the Pathways Wellness Center.

"As a future educator, Ty is dedicated to cultivating a lifelong appreciation for music, ensuring its accessibility for everyone and helping students read, write and perform across diverse genres," Bonnie said. "Through the healing power of the arts, he aims to build lasting bonds and give back to the community that welcomed him."

Ty, a percussionist, performs with four local bands: Raised on Radio, No Exit Wound, Dr. Guy Band and Typical Suspects.

At Rockwood Summit, he took a full courseload of visual arts classes - even cadet teaching in the department - while learning about performing popular music at the Kirkwood School of Rock location. He took lessons on drums, lead vocals and guitar and performed in the House Band at various St. Louis venues and events as well as performing at Summerfest in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Near the end of his junior year at Rockwood Summit, he formed Raised on Radio with other high school students from around the area. The group was voted St. Louis Magazine’s A-List Best Cover Band in 2025 and became a familiar site to St. Louis Blues fans after a performance video debuted at the season's home opener and was broadcast on the Jumbotron to kick off every home game throughout the 2025-2026 hockey season. The band also donates a portion of their revenue to support charitable organizations with an emphasis on hunger, healing though music, veterans, first responders and pet adoption/animal shelters.

Waldrop utilized the A+ Scholarship Program to attend St. Louis Community College-Meramec after graduating Rockwood Summit and performed in school symphonic and jazz bands while completing his associate degree. He now plans to graduate from Webster with a bachelor's in music education and a K-12 certification in Spring 2028.

He also plans to keep performing with his four bands and play as many gigs as possible around the area. He was keeping the beat behind the drum set for Typical Suspects at Wildwood Middle during the "Route 66: Cruise, Tunes & Taste" event July 18.

The dream, ultimately, is to come back to Rockwood and teach the next generation of students, helping cultivate those who hope to see where their interest and aptitude for music takes them. 

(Photo credits, from top: Photo 1 - Bonnie Waldrop; Photo 2 - Elaine Eversgerd; Photo 3 - Bonnie Waldrop)