STARKVILLE — The melodic sound of strings will soon drift through campuses in the Starkville-Oktibbeha County Consolidated School District.
This week, SOCSD announced that it would be partnering with the Mississippi State University Department of Music and the MSU College of Education for its Excellence in Strings program beginning in fall 2023.
SOCSD Superintendent Tony McGee said the program will help to expose students to more musical instruments at an early age and expand the district’s music program by incorporating string instruments into existing band and choral programs.
“We are always looking for ways to expand opportunities for our students,” McGee said. “The strings program will allow students to begin learning to read and understand music as early as third grade and have exposure to instruments that many of them may have never had before.”
Students at West Elementary, Henderson Ward Stewart Elementary, Overstreet Elementary and sixth-graders at Partnership Middle will be taught to play the violin, viola, cello or string bass as a normal part of their class rotation. Classes will include students between the third and sixth grade.
SOCSD Public Information Officer Haley Montgomery explained how this may look in the students’ class schedule.
“We are still working through all the scheduling details, but we are planning for all (third) grade students to enjoy string class as part of their normal rotation of ‘specials’ classes,” Montgomery wrote in an email to The Dispatch. “In third grade, they typically visit each ‘specials’ class (i.e. Art, Music, PE, Library, MakerSpace) once per week or once every other week. In fourth to sixth grades, students will have the opportunity to choose strings as one of their specials/elective options.”
Montgomery said instruments will be provided by the school district during class, and opportunities will be available for students to rent or purchase instruments if they want to practice more at home.
Montgomery said the Mississippi State Department of Music is designing the beginning strings curriculum. She said MSU and SOCSD are sharing two new music faculty members who will teach the strings classes.
In an announcement video, MSU Department Head and Professor of Music Daniel Stevens discussed the benefits of learning music at an early age.
“Students that choose to study music learn a new musical language that is universal and creative and improves personal discipline, coordination, confidence and mental well being,” Stevens said. “… We are pleased to offer string instruction as an additional creative outlet that will open doors to academic achievement, higher test scores and eventually university scholarships.”
Stevens also introduced the two faculty members who will be helping to teach in the program, Assistant Professor of Music Serena Scibelli and Assistant Teaching Professor of Music Amy Catron.
McGee said the program is currently only open to rising third to sixth graders, but the district has plans to expand the program up to the twelfth grade in the future. This would allow the district to form a Middle School and High School Orchestra program.
“The program will expand organically as new student cohorts come in,” McGee said. “We are beginning this year in third-sixth grade. As sixth graders move to seventh, we hope to expand strings class with them. In addition, as younger strings students become more proficient each year, we see the possibility of having more advanced classes as they move through school.”
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