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Evening Music Program Ongoing Enrollment

West End Elementary Starts After School Program in January 2023

Welcome to the YAM FAM West End.  They start their YAM and YAM+ program in January!
​In this program 3rd-5th graders are taught to play acoustic instruments by ear.  They are taught by local musicians to play guitar, fiddle, banjo, and/or mandolin. We’ll have an approximately 45-minute lesson (depending upon the number of students in each class) per week for 11 weeks during the school year, starting in January.  These classes will be held at your school right after school one day a week, the day to be determined.  A Homework Center will be offered free of charge on the day s/he takes classes.  The cost of the weekly lesson is based on the lunch status of the child.  Instrument rentals are a flat rate of $10 a month.  See lesson rates below:
Lunch Status
Weekly Cost
Free
$5
Reduced
$7
Paid
$12
Life in the small, rural Southern Appalachian community of Pickens, SC is centered primarily on family, church, the great outdoors and our heritage.  What better way to celebrate and share our musical heritage than to pass on our community’s love and interest in preserving old-time mountain music?

Supported by Preserving Our Southern Appalachian Music Inc. (POSAM), Young Appalachian Musicians (YAM) introduces children and adults to the music of their heritage through small group instruction in instruments common to the Appalachian region.

Many of our students could not afford the level of instruction they receive or to try out an instrument without a program like YAM. We offer affordable instruction, including lower rates for free and reduced-lunch students, as well as an instrument rental program that makes it possible for all children to play an instrument. None of this would be possible without the support of the community.