GSSM receives grant from Hootie & the Blowfish Foundation Fund

By Messenger Staff Reports

Published: July 18, 2008

The South Carolina Governor’s School for Science and Mathematics (GSSM) is pleased to announce a recent $3,000 grant contribution from the Hootie & the Blowfish Foundation Fund, sponsored by the Central Carolina Community Foundation.

This gift will help to expand the school’s music instruction opportunities.

In addition to skills in science and mathematics, 40 percent of the students who come to study at GSSM bring with them talents in music as well as instruments from home, which they practice during the hours not reserved for academics.

Due to the rigor of its intensive curriculum, GSSM incorporates no formal music education classes into its academic schedule.

The recent gift from the Hootie & the Blowfish Foundation Fund will help to expand the teaching hours of an adjunct music instructor in the 2008–2009 school year. The instructor will work with the band/orchestra, chorus, and gospel choir, as well as the interim music performance students during the month of January.

The instructor will assist students after school as they plan, practice and perform musical programs and provide support for all-region and all-state band auditions.