Conductor Andrea Ferguson leading Prelude, our orchestra for early-intermediate string players..
SEASON 46 FLIPPED IS UNDERWAY!
Artistic Director Matthew Sheppard at Oakhill Elementary in Streamwood, IL.
EYSO'S "STARTER STRINGS"
At EYSO, we believe that music education is both meaningful and valuable to everyone—and we recognize that access to high-quality music education isn’t always even across our communities. To help make our unique EYSO brand of learning and growth in music available to more students, in the fall of 2020 we teamed up with Oakhill Elementary School, a neighborhood school in the U-46 (Elgin) district, and started dreaming.
Over the course of the year, we worked with our partners at Oakhill and developed a plan to increase access by removing some of the traditional barriers for students: transportation, tuition, and instrument rental. With the support of our community, this fall we introduced our first ever Starter Strings program at Oakhill to the three classes of fourth graders eligible for our inaugural year. Within one week, more than 60% of the entire fourth glade class had responded to reserve their spots, tuition-free. Even the teachers wanted to join, learning alongside their students and demonstrating both growth mindset and life-long learning spirit!
With classes starting at the end of September, we are excited to support our tremendous colleagues in U-46, as well as our greater Elgin community. To learn more about Starter Strings and how you can support it, contact Kyla Brittain (kbrittain@eyso.org).
P.S. Have a string instrument you can donate to help supply our students? Let us know! Fractional sizes (1/2 and 3/4) are particularly helpful. Special thanks to our partners throughout the Chicagoland area who have helped supply instruments.
By Matthew Sheppard, EYSO Artistic Director
EYSO AROUND TOWN
ADVERTISING WITH EYSO