Singleton Miller Orchestra Project

We are now accepting application for the 2008 SMOP Grant Cycle.
2008 Application & Guidelines

Congratulations to the 2008-2009 SMOP Grant Recipients

Thanks to donations from Target Store of Aiken, RCS Corporation, and PBT Telecom,

A. L. Corbett Middle School, LBC Middle School and Schofield Middle School each received a grant of $3,000 to expand their programs during school year 2008-2009.  Corbett and LBC will add 7th grade classes and Schofield has set a goal to double size of their 6th grade strings class. 

Good quality instruments are needed now – violins, violas, cellos and basses – for students to use in class.  If you have an instrument in your closet that is not being used, please call the PEP office (649-9040) to arrange a pickup.  A letter confirming the donation will be provided for your tax deduction purposes.

                              Pictured from left, Clair Thrower, Joe Laorenza, and Joyce Culp.

The Singleton-Miller Orchestra Project is a five-year effort to provide start-up funding and support for stringed music in the middle schools and high schools of Aiken County. The project is based on a successful pilot program at Schofield Middle School. With support of Public Education Partners, the commitment of the school’s principal and the talents of a gifted faculty member, the school grew a small after-school program into three regular classes offering beginning, middle and advanced instruction to more than eighty students a year. The students, most of whom had no prior musical experience, have gone on to audition for the Aiken Regional Chamber Orchestra and in 2007 will compete at the state level.

The goal is to establish strong, sustainable stringed music programs in the middle schools and to provide transition funding to high schools to allow them to expand their existing curricula to include orchestra. The arts are an extremely effective learning tool, enhancing math performance, self-discipline, teamwork, responsibility, and a commitment to excellence. Students who participate in the arts score higher on the SAT. They frequently express greater satisfaction and engagement in their school experience overall.

SMOP was established by RCS Corporation of Aiken, South Carolina to honor Ms. Theresa B. Singleton and Mr. Ridgely E. Miller, employees of the South Carolina Small Business Administration, for outstanding service to the citizens and businesses of South Carolina.

Theresa B. Singleton

Ridgely E. Miller