The NGU String Project:

The NGU String Project is a joint effort between North Greenville University (NGU) and Mountain View Elementary School.  It was created with a vision to increase accessibility for Upstate SC children in the to study stringed instruments.  NGU string students and faculty come to Mountain View Elementary School to teach group classes, private lessons, and conduct the string project orchestras.  Classes are open to elementary through high school-aged students as long as they participate in their own school programs and play in the Carolina Youth Symphony or the Greenville County Youth Orchestra.

What is a String Project:

A String Project provides practical hands-on training for undergraduate string education majors during their four or five years of college. The program consists of String Project elementary-high school (pre-college) students who participate in three orchestras, four large heterogeneous beginning classes, small homogeneous second year classes, and private lessons, all taught by undergraduate students under the supervision of the Director of the String Project.  String Project pre-college students begin in the third or fourth grade. They can continue in the program through the twelfth grade, as long as they participate in their own school programs and play in the Carolina Youth Symphony or the Greenville County Youth Orchestra.

Goals and Objectives:

The goal of each project site (established by the American String Teachers Association) is to have 150 elementary-high school students and 9 undergraduate students in the program by the completion of their third year.  The NGU String Project is modeled after the USC String Project hosted by the University of South Carolina in Columbia.  The USC String Project started in 1974 with 41 elementary school students and 6 undergraduate students.  By 2000 the USC String Project had 358 elementary through high school students and 30 undergraduate students.

The goals and objectives for the NGU String Project are to:

* provide opportunity for SC Upstate elementary school-aged children to study string instruments 

* reach out to the underserved community in Greenville to ensure that all students have equal opportunity to grow their natural gifts and talents in strings

* help strengthen existing and stimulate the growth of new public school orchestra programs in the SC Upstate

* encourage Upstate string players to become string teachers

* help ASTA alleviate the nationwide string teacher shortage, especially in the SC Upstate

* offer supervised teaching experience for NGU string education majors