The ARMES Program 

(Arts Reaching Middle and Elementary Schools) is a tuition-free program for gifted and talented students in 3rd through 8th grades who live in Greenville County, whether they are attending public, private or home school.  All classes are offered twice a week after school for the school year.  Students attending the ARMES program are identified and coded as Gifted and Talented Artistic at their school.  ARMES Dance, Strings, and Visual Arts classes are offered at the Fine Arts Center and the ARMES Drama classes are offered at the Sterling School. Current 2nd through 7th grade students may be nominated by a teacher, parent, other adult, self or peer.  All interested students must have an online nomination form completed by the deadline in April in order to be eligible for the program.  No late nominations will be accepted. Once the nomination is submitted, the nominator and the parent will both receive an email confirmation.  Print the nomination form before you click the submit button and print your email confirmation for your records.  If there is a problem with your nomination in our system, your copy of the nomination form and printed email confirmation will serve as proof of nomination. Parents will be notified by email of their student’s audition date, time and location in May. For more information, visit our website, www.armesprogram.com, see the following documents, (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwX-EPhxsp8XT2g3VTgtTG1VMVU/view?usp=sharing and https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwX-EPhxsp8XQkV0MXdGM0lqdW8/view?usp=sharing ) or contact one of the ARMES Instructors:

Dance  - Rebecca Lee, 355-2575, rtlee@greenville.k12.sc.us

Drama – Anne Tromsness, 355-7520, atromsness@greenville.k12.sc.us

Strings – Eleonore Shults, eshults@greenville.k12.sc.us 

Visual Art – Greg Flint, 355-2573, gflint@greenville.k12.sc.us

Visual Art and ARMES Coordinator – Rebecca Stockham, 355-2576,rstockha@greenville.k12.sc.us

Arts opportunities in the community

Lollipops Concerts~ Free classical concert series for children 3-8 years old, presented by the Greenville Symphony Orchestra.  During each concert, chamber ensembles accompany a storybook reading, and audiences receive a lollipop! Programs are around 30 minutes.  Reservations not required and admission is FREE!!   https://www.greenvillesymphony.org/education-and-community/for-families/ 

• 10/12/24: "Creepy Crayon" by Aaron Reynolds at Hughes Main Library (10am) and Hughes Library Five Forks (11:30am)

• 1/18/25: "There Was a Party for Langston" by Jason Reynolds, featuring GSO Percussion & Double Bass at Hughes Main Library (10am) and Hughes Library Greer Branch (11:30am)

• 2/22/25: "Zero" by Kathryn Otoshi, featuring GSO Percussion at Hughes Main Library (10am) and Hughes Library Pelham (11:30am)

• 3/29/25: "Music is a Rainbow" by Bryan Collier, featuring GSO Woodwind Quintet at Hughes Main Library (10am) and Hughes Library Taylors (11:30am)

• 4/12/25: "Vivaldi's Invisible Orchestra" by Stephen Costanza, featuring GSO String Quartet at Hughes Main Library (10am) and Hughes Library Travelers Rest (11:30am)

• 5/17/25: "Because" by Mo Willems, featuring GSO String Quintet at Hughes Main Library (10am) and Hughes Library Five Forks (11:30am)

Once Upon An Orchestra ~ Making Music with the Animals…and a Monster. Collaboration between SC Children's Theatre (SCCT) and Greenville Symphony Orchestra.  Presented at SCCT on three Tuesdays throughout the school year at 11:00am.  Once Upon an Orchestra is a free performance that engages young listeners and their attending family members with a dramatic blend of music, narrative, acting and movement.  

Information: contact GSO Education Director at (864) 232-0344 X111

10/29/24: "Leonardo the Terrible Monster" by Mo Willems featuring GSO Percussion

3/25/25: "One" by Kathryn Otoshi, featuring GSO String Quartet

5/13/25: "Caps for Sale" by Esphyr Slobodkina, featuring GSO Percussion and Winds

Greenville Symphony Orchestra ~ offers $5 student tickets!!

Younts Center for the Performing Arts ~ Located in Fountain Inn, offers FREE student tickets!!

Watch this great video to see why it is so important to support music and keep it alive in our public schools.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=YJ1KSM1IBgQ   

Graduation Plus:  How can the arts help our students with this district initiative?

Great resource: This map illustrates the intersection between 21st century skills and the arts!  http://www.p21.org/storage/documents/P21_arts_map_final.pdf 

"Each of the four distinct disciplines of the arts (dance, music, theatre arts, and visual arts) offers its own unique set of knowledge, skills, and processes. As a whole, however, the arts are uniquely situated to provide links from school-based learning to themes that are essential to every child’s understanding of the modern world. This is because the arts, which thrive on the free expression of the imagination and the creative instinct common in all human beings, have enabled us to explore the changing nature of our existence and to understand how that nature has both evolved and remained constant over time, culture, and place. The arts inculcate key lessons for participation in a democracy, as they balance the preservation of ideas with the challenging of old ways and the development of new visions."