Low-Income Students

In Durham, students are finding joy in music again

This past semester, in-person music lessons have returned at places like Kidznotes, a nonprofit children's orchestra based in Durham. Liz Schlemmer has this story about how young musicians are once again finding joy in music.

Elizabeth DeKonty, a fellow with the Public School Forum of North Carolina, speaks with Pattillo Middle School’s resilience team about strategies for ing students, many of whom live in poverty.

Education

When Kids Come To School With Trauma, These NC Teachers Try And Listen

Lisa Philip

One day last fall, teachers sauntered past a wall in W.A. Pattillo Middle School in Tarboro as if they were studying works of art. Really, they were…

Several hands of different colors raised.

Education

NC, The South Called On To Accelerate Change For Vulnerable Students

Lisa Philip

A group of education organizations is calling on states in the South to improve schools for all students and to do so at a faster pace. Their report out…

Fourth-grader Alexa has been taking lessons with Musical Empowerment volunteer Mai Riquier for the past three years. She says that without violin lessons, she’d be “so stressed out,” and that they make her “feel like [she] can do anything in the world.”

Education

Free Music Lessons Level Playing Field For Low-Income Kids

Lisa Philip

On a recent evening in a second-floor room of the University United Methodist Church in Chapel Hill, Joshua Pongsitiphon tries out the final chords of a…