“Te elementary students are learning and mastering their pos- ture, instrument positions, and bow holds,” says String Project Director Dr. Michael Weaver, who also serves as the coordinator for the string program at NGU. “Tey are plucking their A and D strings, learning their note names, and playing through notes D, E, F#, and G.”


Te students also begin by practicing their up-bows and down- bows in the air, “stirring the pot” and “spider crawling” up and down the bow, adds Weaver.


Weaver says the music teachers, meanwhile, are learning what they know and don’t know about teaching, as well as what they love about the path they have chosen and the students they teach — with all the “hugs and high fives” that go with it.


“My favorite part about working at the String Project is seeing all the students progress. [Tey] get so happy when they have learned a new skill,” says Katelyn LaDue (expected ’21).


NGU undergraduates who, like LaDue, are studying in the Cline School of Music volunteer with the String Project to gain hands- on classroom teaching experiences. While the project is under the guidance of Master Teacher Dr. Anne Mathews, these NGU student instructors assist with every lesson.


Trough hands-on teaching experiences with children in the community who enroll in the program, NGU’s undergraduate students become better prepared for their future careers.


“Working at the String Project is not a requirement, but I would highly recommend it,” LaDue adds. “I have learned different ways to teach students the same technique.”


In the process, the children develop good work habits, improve their ability to collaborate in groups, and enjoy the opportunity to study music. At the same time, their parents benefit from an affordable opportunity to provide high-caliber music lessons to their children.


Te NGU/Kroc program — one of 40 similar programs offered by universities and colleges nationwide through the National String Project Consortium, but one of only two programs offered in South Carolina — is designed to help alleviate the long-term shortage of string instrument teachers in the United States by encouraging undergraduate music majors to become public school music teachers upon graduation, while also expanding the accessibility of music education to young children.


Due to an early gift from former local business owner Jim Clin- ton, NGU’s String Project has the potential to reach even more area students.


Clinton first began playing music himself in the fourth grade at J.L. Noble Elementary School in Altoona, PA. To this day, he remembers not being able to play the violin in the orchestra back then because the waiting list for a school-provided instrument was so long. He picked up the alto saxophone instead.


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Eventually, through private lessons much later in life, Clinton learned how to play the cello and even how to repair instruments like it. He set up shop at Jim Clinton Violins in Taylors, SC, in 2002. Tat’s where he met Weaver.


“As the string program coordinator for NGU, and as a private vi- olin and viola instructor, I needed to know where I could get the university’s instruments and my students’ instruments repaired and serviced,” Weaver says.


Weaver mentioned the startup of the String Project on one of his visits, and Clinton took interest; when he decided to close his business last July to change careers, Clinton donated his remaining 40 stringed instruments, valued at $73,000, to the cause. Tese instruments are now being used by the NGU String Project.


“I cannot think of a better way to end this career than by helping out the community,” Clinton says.


Weaver says this is a substantial gift to the String Project. Te do- nation has allowed more students to participate in the program. Since tuition for the String Project is only $10 or less per week, providing the students with an instrument makes the opportuni- ty even more affordable for Greenville County families.


“One of our goals is to 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,” Weaver says. “Tese instruments will allow us to do that.”


Learn more at ngu.edu/stringproject.


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