Thank you to all the parents, students, and supporters who were present at the March 14 School Board meeting.
According to Dr. McGinley, the Board will decide on programs and teachers to be cut at the April 11 meeting. Keep your fingers crossed!
Mike Huckabee: Art and Music Education
Support Our Arts Rally (SOAR)
March 13...Downtown Charleston...King Street
With budget concerns in the state and county, we would like to promote public awareness of the wonderful work that arts educators are doing for our children. A rally is planned for the "Second Sunday On King Street" festival that is held monthly in downtown Charleston. It will be the Support Our Arts Rally...or SOAR.
From their website: www.secondsundayonkingstreet.com
"Charleston's most exciting shopping and dining district is King Street, the most unique Main Street in the world. Now on the Second Sunday of each month, King Street will close to vehicle traffic and celebrate Southern Sunday afternoons by welcoming everyone to stroll, shop, dine and enjoy Charleston at its finest. Join us from 1:00 to 6:00 PM October 10 for our very first "Second Sunday on King Street". Contact your favorite King Street retailer or restaurant for more details, and watch this space for the latest news from your favorite Sunday spot, King Street. "Susan Lucas has graciously offered Sunday, March 13 as a day for promoting our arts programs- educational, professional, and anything else. This is a very opportune time to expose our arts programs to the community as the next night, Monday, March 14, is the Charleston County Board of Trustees meeting where more budget cut discussions will be underway. We are hoping to have lots of participation and let everyone know that we are going strong and doing great things for the children of Charleston County.
We welcome any and all arts performances, shows, etc. to promote support for arts education in Charleston. Professional or student...come one, come all! Let's show a united front for the sake of ALL arts education in Charleston County. Be a part of our rally!
We are organizing the day and need for groups to sign up. We will have performances from 1:00 PM to 6:00 PM. 15-20 minutes is all you need to show your best to the Charleston community. Come out and show your support for the arts in Charleston County. Speakers are welcome!
Thank you for all the wonderful things you do for the arts and the children!
CLICK HERE to find the sign-up form.
For more information, contact the webmaster.
CCSD Board of Trustee Meeting March 14, 2011
The elimination of the "itinerant music" positions will be discussed on this date. Let's have a magnificient showing of strings students, parents, teachers, friends, etc. We need to "line the walls" with supporters!
Plan on being at 75 Calhoun Street by 5:00 PM on Monday, March 14. Go strings!
SOS Discussion Board Forum
Use this forum to post discussions concerning the Save Our Strings effort, or any news/topics that are important to arts education and advocacy in the community
CLICK HERE to go to the Discussion Forum
CCSD Board of Trustee Meeting February 28, 2011
The strings program is NOT on the agenda for this meeting. Community members are welcome and encouraged to be at the meeting if you would like to watch the process, but we understand that the strings program will not be voted on. You can find the agenda HERE.
Thank you to the Charleston community for your letters, emails, and support! We now have two board members who have pledged to vote "no" to any cuts in the orchestra program.Thank you to Elizabeth Kandrac and Elizabeth Moffly! We need three more to ensure that the orchestra program in our public schools stays in tact! Keep those emails and letters coming!
Charleston County Budget Development Proposal- February 10, 2011
Once again the Charleston County School District (CCSD) is proposing to cut the orchestra program in the public schools. Although it is thinly disguised as "Itinerate Music" in the proposal (see page 23 of the document), the truth of the matter is they are proposing cutting the 9.8 orchestra teachers' positions.
It is essential that the community becomes vocal about the importance of the orchestra programs in our public schools. Please write letters, send emails, etc. to the members of the CCSD School Board and Superintendent. You can find their contact information HERE.
Let the local news media know how you feel! Find a list of newspapers, TV stations, and radio stations in the Charleston are HERE.
To assist you in communicating the importance of the arts in education, please find some talking points HERE.
Thank you for your support of the orchestra program in CCSD!
Great Articles
Why Cutting Arts Funding Is Not A Good Idea
January 2011 Legslative Update
Stay Updated at the SCEA Website:
Save Our Strings Website has gone Statewide!
What began as a website for the advocacy of string orchestra programs in the Charleston County School District has beome so popular that we have taken on a broader purpose. Our intent is to aid and assist ALL string orchestra programs in the state of South Carolina in creating publicity for and recognition of the importance of the string orchestra programs in the public schools. The advocacy pages are being updated regularly with research and website links that promote arts education in general and, hopefully, string orchestra education specifically.
The information available on the website for the CCSD string orchestra programs has not been lost! You can access the former front page by clicking here: SOS Archives.
If you have information or suggestions that will be useful to arts advocacy or string orchestra advocacy, please contact the webmaster!
New York Times- Coverage of the Economic Downturn and School Music Programs, April 15, 2009
CCSD Research Shows String Students Score Higher on Tests
Research gathered by Jim Braunreuther, CCSD Fine Arts Coordinator, shows that during the 2004-2005 school year, students of the arts in grades 6-8 scored higher on PACT English/Language Arts and Math tests than non-arts students. Furthermore, string orchestra students in middle school scored higher than other arts students as well as non-arts students.
