One of the greatest joys of the grant giving process is hearing the results of the projects that impact the students of the Beaufort County Public Schools. The Foundation for Educational Excellence recently received a follow up report from one of our innovative fall grants that are funded by the Bargain Box and awarded to Dr. Jeff Stinson, a guitar teacher at H.E. McCracken Middle School in Bluffton.
Dr. Stinson’s project, entitled “The Science of Tuning a Guitar,” sought to teach the students the science and mathematics principles used to properly tune a guitar. With Dr. Stinson’s extensive musical knowledge, coupled with a supply of guitar tuners purchased with the grant, the project was tremendously effective in teaching his students the principle and process of guitar tuning. This knowledge will help to instill in the students a love of music that they will carry with them far beyond their school years.
Dr. Stinson’s students learned about frequency, the pitch names for each guitar string, and how to change the pitch of each guitar string. Ultimately, the majority of his students were able to overcome their challenges and successfully tune their guitars. Dr. Stinson has testified that now most of his students feel comfortable tuning their guitars by themselves and have also become more aware of which guitar string is out of pitch and needs tuning.
“Learning how to tune a guitar effectively is a vital learning experience for a student studying how to play a guitar,” says Michel Claudio, Grants Chair for The Foundation. “The Foundation for Educational Excellence is extremely excited and proud to foster this necessary and fun learning experience for Dr. Stinson and his guitar class students at H.E. McCracken Middle School.”
The Foundation particularly enjoys giving grants to projects that can impact students for several years. And we are confident that the guitar tuners will be used for years to come by students in Dr. Stinson’s guitar classes.
“We love providing grants for fun and educational opportunities in Beaufort County Public Schools, and we cannot wait to award more grants to teachers and schools in the district, in the future,” says Claudio.
Who knows…one of these budding musicians may go on to be a famous guitar player with the skills they have mastered?
Stay “tuned” to hear about future innovative and educational grants awarded by The Foundation to teachers and schools across Beaufort County. We are grateful for the support of The Bargain Box of Hilton Head for this science and music grant and others.
